Distorted Reality
by Oreal770
Summary: Harry Potter goes to visit 'Uncle Moony' in his office for help, when suddenly everything spirals out of control and he and his family are flung into an Alternative Universe where his friends lie dead on the floor and is that his body in Hagrid's arms?
1. Chapter 1

**This idea has been bugging me for a bit, and it felt wierd not writing anything so I decided to start something new!**

**I hope you like it!**

***I AM NOT JK ROWLING, I DO NOT OWN HARRY POTTER*  
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><p><strong>Distorted Reality<strong>

Harry scuffed his shoe as he meandered down Hogwarts' familiar corridors. He remembered with a smile a time he was certain he would never know his way around the castle, yet now it was like a second home to him.

Second to Potter manor, of course. Potter Manor, with its sloping lawns and small Quiddich pitch (he had been playing since he could walk). Potter Manor with their three house elves (Blinky, Twinkie and Pinky), whose company Harry enjoyed to an extent – they _were _only house elves, who lived to do your bidding.

Shaking his head out of thoughts of home, Harry returned to his dilemma. The _stupid _Patronus Charm. Why could he not get it to work for him? NEWTs began next week, and even _he _was fully immersed in his studies. Gryffindor tower was silent most of the time now, because Granger – who had been studying for _months_, the weirdo – had shouted at several first years for playing exploding snap too loudly.

Harry drew to a stop outside Uncle Moony's... No, _Professor Lupin's_ room, and knocked lightly.

The door opened quickly, and Harry grinned up into the familiar face of his 'Uncle'.

Moony smiled warmly back, enfolding Harry into a hug and pulling back to look at his face. "Are you okay, Harry?" he asked kindly, "Needed a break from studying?" he teased, knowing that, despite Remus' best efforts, Harry had left the cramming to the last minute, again. Harry's face took on a pained expression.

"I can't get the patronus to work!" he lamented, "It's always just a load of mist that just hovers there for a bit. Ron got it _weeks_ ago!" he whined, "Help me Uncle Moony!" And Harry pulled out his best puppy-dog eyes.

Remus laughed, shaking his head, "why didn't you come to me sooner, Harry?" he asked, stepping back to let Harry into the room. Harry's eyes widened as he looked at a small crowd of familiar faces.

"Mum?" he asked, looking to the red-haired witch sat at Uncle Moony's table, "Dad? Uncle Paddy?" he addressed the others in the room. "What are you guys doing here?" he asked, embarrassed at being caught asking for help.

Lily rose to her feet, walking towards her son, "Hello Harry dear" she said, pulling him into a reluctant hug, ignoring Harry's whine of "_Muuuummm!" _

"Uncle Padfoot, Dad and I were just visiting our favourite professor." She told Harry, causing Remus to blush and grin slightly. They all ignored Sirius's cry of "_Minnie's here?"_

Remus grinned at his surrogate nephew, "I invited them over for dinner." He explained to Harry. "I'm sure they won't mind me giving you some help with your patronus." Harry blushed, smiling sheepishly at his parents, causing James to wink at him and ruffle up his hair.

"Dad!" Harry protested, ducking out of his father's reach, "You said you'd stop doing that when I got taller than you!" James laughed, and stepped back, his hands held up in surrender.

"Do you want to stay for dinner, Harry?" Remus asked, pulling his wand out of his pocket, "I think the house elves are going to send it up soon." Harry's stomach rumbled and he laughed, messing his hair up like his father used to.

"You know me too well, Uncle Moony." He said, also pulling out his wand, and looking at it sceptically. "I don't know why the spell won't work." He grumbled. "I'm thinking of something happy, like you said, but nothing happens."

Remus smiled kindly. "Don't worry about it, Harry; it's a very advanced spell. Many grown wizards can't pull it off. Are you sure your thought is happy enough?"

_Harry thought back to a lunch time to week previous, when he, Ron, Seamus and Dean had caused a small explosion of food on the slytherin table, sending pieces of mashed potato, gravy, sausages and more onto the appalled slytherins, including the one and only Draco Malfoy, who had screamed like a girl, his hair full of mashed potato and ran from the hall, screaming something about his father hearing about this..._

Harry grinned mischievously, waving his wand and muttering "_Expecto Patronum!" _A white mist issued from his wand, and Harry frowned at it, waving his wand and groaning. "Why won't it work?" he demanded angrily as the mist vanished.

Remus placed a calming hand on Harry's shoulder, and Harry took a deep breath.

"What were you thinking?" Remus asked. Harry shrugged, blushing slightly.

"Just the look on Malfoy's face when he got mashed potato in his hair last week." He muttered, not looking at his mother, who he knew would be shaking her head, her arms folded and her brow furrowed. He also knew his father would be trying not to laugh, and also not looking at his wife, who would undoubtedly throw an exasperated expression his way, obviously telling him she was sure he was completely to blame for their son's unruly behaviour.

Remus sighed and brushed a hand through his hair. "You need something deeper than that." He told Harry seriously, "something meaningful, not just a silly joke. You don't feel pure happiness at playing jokes on others. Think about someone, something that makes you happy, like friends, like having fun." He encouraged Harry.

Harry nodded, determined, just as the dinner materialised on the side – some form of stew, Harry noted, as Sirius jumped up with a cry of happiness at the sight of the food. Harry felt himself grinning at his godfather, choosing not to crack a joke about what Uncle Paddy would undoubtedly choose to think of when casting a patronus.

"_Expecto Patronum!" _Harry cried, letting in thoughts of his family, of his childhood, whizzing around Potter Manor on a small broomstick, his mother crying out for him to be careful, his father's laughter egging him on... He thought about his friends, about playing jokes, about messing around in the common room, about making it snow in the Great Hall on Christmas Day last year...

A giant stag erupted from the end of his wand, causing Harry to stumble back slightly in surprise. James let out a shout of joy from where he had just jumped to his feet, and Remus laughed and clapped his hands happily. "Well done Harry! I knew you could do it!"

Sirius... well, Sirius was carrying the stew, and in his shock, the pot had fallen from his hands...

Sirius let out a cry of shock as the stew knocked over a cauldron, causing both liquids to mix together, bubbling furiously. Everyone stopped to look at it, including the stag, before the liquid exploded, bits of it covering the whole room...

And the inhabitants in it.

Remus looked confused at the patronus covered in stew and wolfsbane potion for a second, a confused look on his face... _But I thought they weren't completely solid..._ he mused, _How is this possible?_

All the inhabitants stared at each other for a second before disappearing with a pop, their skin burning; feeling like every particle in their bodies was being pulled in a different direction.

Harry thought he was screaming, but he couldn't hear anything. Flashes of colour spiralled past him, faster and faster, his eyes felt like they were popping, but he couldn't close them, couldn't move.

There was air beneath his feet, but he could feel the ground under them, and the colours were making him dizzy. He tried to look around for the others, but his body wouldn't obey him...

_**WHAM!**_

The world righted around him, and he fell to the ground clutching his head in pain.

"What the bloody hell was that?" a familiar voice sounded from next to him, and he looked up to see Uncle Padfoot, clutching his head too. His Dad was holding tight to his Mum's hand, looking into her eyes to see if she was okay ,she on the other hand was trying to throw him off, insisting that she was fine, telling him to stop worrying. Uncle Moony was looking around the room, confused, noticing that everything looked different.

His office was covered in small metal devices which he didn't really want to know were used for, and an open area in the middle, with spots of... was that blood? Remus' eyes widened, and he backed away. "I think we need to get out of here." He said quietly. "Harry, put your cloak on."

Harry, realising this was not a time for complaining, pulled his invisibility cloak round his shoulders, and watched as the others placed disillusionment charms on each other, and held onto each other as they left the room.

A loud, booming voice echoed round the castle, and Harry's eyes widened. He clutched at his parents' hands on either side of him.

"_**Harry Potter is dead. He was killed as he ran away, trying to save himself while you lay down your lives for him. We bring you his body as proof that your hero is gone."**_

Harry froze. He was kind of sure he wasn't dead... he placed a finger to his pulse to check... nope, everything was beating away as normal... what the _hell_ was going on? There was only one Harry Potter... wasn't there?

"_**The battle is won. You have lost half your fighters. My Death Eaters outnumber you and the Boy Who Lived is finished. There must be no more war. Anyone who continues to resist, man, woman or child, will be slaughtered, as will every member of their family."**_

Harry heard his family around him shuffle closer to each other. He heard them muttering, clearly panicked.

"Padfoot?" he heard his Dad hiss, "What the _hell_ did you do this time?"

"Me?" Sirius protested, "I didn't do anything! It's not my fault we're all hallucinating, or some psycho has started some random killing spree!"

"Calm down!" Remus hissed, "We can't-"

The voice continued:

"_**Come out of the castle, now, kneel before me, and you shall be spared. Your parents and children, your brothers and sisters will live, and be forgiven, and you shall join me in the new world we shall build together."**_

Harry pulled the invisibility cloak off his head, talking to the shimmering outlines of his family.

"What the _fuck_?" he cursed, eyes wide. "Am I dreaming?" he demanded.

An outline pulled him into a hug. "I don't know what's happening." James' voice told him, "But don't worry, we'll figure something out." He assured him. "And none of us are dying." He added, shuddering in remembrance of the cold voice echoing round the castle.

"Come on." Remus' voice sounded. "We need to find out what's going on. Harry, keep a tight hold on your parents' hands." He told him, and Harry nodded, before ducking under the invisibility cloak he was glad he carried everywhere with him.

The small family walked through the silent castle sombrely, each lost in dark thoughts at the sight of their beloved castle looking so destroyed. More than once they passed a still body, a child, an adult, they could not stop to look closer... in case it was someone they knew, someone they loved...

Reaching a window... or rather a missing part of wall – Harry shuddered at the implications of the curse that would hold the power to destroy part of Hogwarts – they looked out into the courtyard.

A dark, masked army was lined up in front of the building, let by a terrifying-looking man... was it even a man? He had a white face, and his gleaming red eyes were visible even from where they stood. His face looked oddly flat, as if he was missing something.

And next to him, stood Hagrid, an old friend of Harry's... he had visited his hut many times, and he was a qualified teacher of Care of Magical Creatures.

And in his arms...

"NO!" Harry heard a cry from the audience gathered outside the school. Was that Professor McGonagall's voice?

"Is that _me_?" he whispered to the others incredulously... he couldn't believe it...

"No!"

"_No!"_

"Harry! HARRY!"

Harry heard the shouts, and stared, dumbstruck at the still body in Hagrid's arms, not quite registering who was shouting... one of them sounded like Ron.

Harry stood frozen, his mouth hanging open in shock, "Am I _dead_?"

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><p><strong>I hope you like it, I will update soon.<strong>

**Please Read and Review! **

**Oreal  
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	2. Chapter 2

**Here is chapter two! Thanks to all who have reviewed and Story Alert-ed and Favourite-d. Love you all! Enjoy!  
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><p><strong>Chapter 2<strong>

Harry felt arms grab at him, and he started, his eyes tearing away from the sight of his dead body now lying at the feet of the tall pale man, whose eyes would surely haunt Harry's nightmares. He looked through the cloak at the shimmery outlines of his family and, not for the first time, wondered what so of demented place they'd gone to.

A loud bang made him jump, and he looked back at the chaos below them, watching the tall pale man pace up and down in front of... the other Harry... ranting at the audience.

A young man broke free of the crowd – Harry frowned... he looked familiar, but not really... like someone had taken someone he knew and distorted them, matting their hair with blood, marring their skin with bruises. A shrill voice drifted towards them on the wind,

"Neville Longbottom, my Lord!" and Harry's eyes widened, looking determinedly back at the young man he knew but didn't. He vaguely recognised the face, but this Neville was thinner, stronger, messier, bolder... not the same Neville he'd played tricks on back home, the friend of the nerd.

"Dumbledore's Army!" Harry heard Neville shout, with an answering roar from the crowd... this _couldn't_ be the same person... this _leader_ was not the almost-squib Harry remembered...

Feeling a hand grip his arm, Harry looked up into the shimmering face of Uncle Moony, who seemed to be thinking along the same lines – couldn't _possibly _ be Neville Longbottom – before loud screams brought his attention back to the scene, and Harry gasped out loud, a quiet "no!" escaping his mouth.

Because Neville Longbottom could not _die_, he was a constant, always there to prank, to get annoyed, to struggle in potions... he could not be standing below them in the courtyard, the school sorting hat on his head, blazingly aflame.

Then chaos broke out, and Harry was distracted by the loud cry of "HAGGER!". Falling backwards away from the gap in the wall at the sight of the giant walking towards the building, Harry gaped at it. It was huge. No, massive... massively huge... Cries dragged his eyes back to the ground and what _had_ he missed in those few seconds? His body had turned into a snake! ... No, the snake was there before – but now it was dead and the other Harry's body was gone.

A kaleidoscope of colours was visible amongst the mass of the crowd as battle broke out, the mass of fighting headed back into the building, out of Harry's sight.

Backing away, Harry pulled off the cloak, looking at his parents in horror. It was a dream, it had to be! His NEWTs were getting to him, he'd gone crazy! His heart was pounding, his head was throbbing and his breaths were coming in pants.

He felt the familiar arms of his mother enclose round him, and his breathing eased slightly.

"Mum?" he said quietly, "what's happening?" He felt so vulnerable, his green eyes shining with upset and confusion... he would have to make it up to Neville when he got back home, he'd never prank him again, he swears desperately, his brain going wild with regrets and ideas.

"I don't know, sweetheart." His mother said quietly, "I just don't know."

Uncle Moony's voice came out of the air next to him, and Harry startled. "I think you should keep the cloak on, Harry." His voice was more serious than Harry had ever heard it.

Uncle Padfoot also sounded very out of character, his mirth gone with the depressing events around them, "I think we should go to the Great Hall." He said, "They are bound to be in there, and when this is over, maybe we can find out what's happening, where we are."

Nodding solemnly, Harry re-pulled the invisibility cloak over his head, hiding beneath it, and together they made their way through the ravaged building.

Emerging into the Great Hall, the first thing Harry noticed was that they seemed to be winning... the people he knew and trusted, at least, which he assumed to be the 'good side'. Creeping into a corner, he waited for something to happen, feeling his family jostled around him at the same time.

Soon, it seemed there were only two battles remaining, the tall man was battling – Harry's eyes bogged out – Professor McGonagall, Kingsley Shacklebolt (an old friend of his Dad's in the ministry) and Horace Slughorn (his parents' old potions master). How powerful _was_ this man?

In the other pair, Harry recognised Ron's mother, her face more lined, her waist thinner, her eyes sadder, fighting a woman Harry didn't recognise, but the look of her gave him chills.

The pale woman was finally hit by Molly's curse (Harry gave a silent whoop) and collapsed to the floor. The tall man seemed to explode with fury, sending three powerful witches and wizards flying, and Harry feared for them all, realising the extent of the man's strength.

And then, Harry caught sight of himself – the other him – much more alive than when he'd last seen him. What was he doing, approaching the tall man? It was a miracle he was still standing! Did he _have_ a death wish? Leave it to the aurors, Harry decided would be the best plan.

"I don't want anyone else to try to help." Harry heard a disturbingly familiar voice call out, and his fingernails dug into his palm in worry. Why did he care? It was just a dream – it had to be! But then, why did it feel so _real_?

Harry watched as the two wizards circled each other, sparring with words, and was alarmed at the differences between him and the other boy, even if they were supposed to be the same person.

The other Harry looked older, holding himself with much more dignity, not the swagger Harry adopted around the castle. His eyes were deeper, much sadder, and Harry found himself very pleased that he seemed to have escaped whatever had happened to this other man who looked like he carried the world on his shoulders.

_I bet he doesn't have any problems with the Patronus_, Harry found himself thinking desperately, trying to find something positive in this world, _he looks powerful... more powerful than I am, anyway. I could never face someone like that. I could never be stronger than Professor McGonagall and those aurors that were fighting that man... What _happened_ here?_

They spoke about things Harry didn't understand, about Dumbledore being dead – _impossible_ – and about Snape's love for his mother – Harry still found that disturbing. About elder wands and riddles and remorse – this was a really bad idea, judging by the narrowing of the man's red eyes. Harry could not follow the conversation, which was mainly about some form of powerful wand, he deduced, but they mentioned Malfoy and allegiances of wands, and all Harry knew about wands was that his wand worked for him and that he should keep it safe. He found himself very confused with the conversation.

He did know what _Avada Kedavra_ meant, though, and though he heard a shout of _Expelliarmus_, Harry knew the other Harry was done for – no-one had ever survived that spell, and he closed his eyes, determined not to watch his death, even if it wasn't his...

**BANG!** Harry's eyes snapped open to see the other Harry catch the tall man's wand and he couldn't help but smile as the man he'd labelled 'baddie' crumpled to the ground, dead, and watched the crowd surge forwards to support Harry Potter...

"Hey!" a shout came from Harry's right, and, jumping, he turned towards it to see a slightly familiar person pointing their wand at them... Loony or something was her name, but she looked dead serious now. She was looking straight at his parents, Uncle Moony and Padfoot, and Harry's heart sank as some others turned towards her. "There are some people standing there." Loony said in a slightly breathy voice and suddenly there was a crowd of people surrounding them on all sides. Harry gulped.

The other Harry pushed his way through the crowd to see what was wrong, hands patting him on the back, random people pulling him in for a hug... and eventually he broke through the other side, pointing both Draco's Hawthorn wand and the Elder wand at them.

"_Homenum Revelio."_ The other Harry said, and Harry felt a wave wash over him, and saw the other Harry nod. "There are five people there." He said, and wow, a lot of wands pointing at you after watching them destroy an army was worrying.

Harry heard mutters behind him, and saw his family come into focus, and taking a deep breath, he pulled the invisibility cloak off himself.

Gasps rippled around the crowd, and it seemed _more_ people pressed in on all sides. Harry looked back at his doppelganger who looked as stunned as everyone else, but unwilling to let his guard down.

"_Expelliarmus!"_ the other Harry cast, and Harry cursed as he felt his wand leave his hand, arching into the other Harry's grip alongside four others. Harry threw his hands in the air in surrender, and heard his father speak behind him.

"We don't know what happened, there was an incident with a potion and suddenly we're in the middle of a war. You have to believe us!"

The other Harry stepped a little closer, wary. "What are your names?" he asked, and the family looked at each other before Sirius answered.

"You won't believe us, but I swear it's true. My name is Sirius Black."

The other Harry was shaking his head, his eyes wide. "No..."

"I am Remus Lupin." Uncle Moony spoke, his voice slightly hoarse, his tone serious. The other Harry's eyes were sad as he looked at him, his brow creased in confusion.

"I am James Potter." Ripples broke out in the crowd as people pushed forwards to see. Several voices cried out exclamations of "_Impossible!" "Liars!" "Death Eaters in disguise!"_

"I am Lily Potter." Harry felt his mother's hand grip his arm as the whispers continued, and Harry steeled himself.

"I am Harry Potter." He said, looking straight into his doppelganger's face as he said it, not a hint of a lie on his own.

The other Harry was shaking slightly as he looked at him, and his breath was shallow.

"Impossible." He whispered.

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><p><strong>What do you think? Anything you'd like to see? Review please!<strong>

**Thanks for reading!**

**Oreal  
><strong>


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello :) Here's Chapter 3. Sorry, it's a bit slow. Not much happens in it... anything you particularly want to see, let me know :)**

**I do not own Harry Potter in any shape or form... (i have a couple of posters and a Ravenclaw scarf, does that count?)**

**Enjoy!  
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><p><strong>Chapter 3<strong>

Harry stumbled along, his eyes wide in horror as he took in the complete destruction of Hogwarts Castle. He saw gargoyles lain on their side, statues in pieces... only Peeves seemed to be unchangeable – he zoomed past at one point, cackling loudly and singing.

The worst part was the bodies, especially in the Great Hall, piles and piles of the dead, surrounded by mourning family members. Every time Harry recognised someone, his heart gave an uncomfortable lurch and he bowed his head, not wanting to look but not being able to look away.

A sob resounded from behind him, and Harry spun round, on high alert. His family had stopped, looking down at a pair of bodies laying together, their hands outstretched towards each other. Harry's blood turned to ice as he looked down into the familiar face of his Uncle Moony, his face more lined, his hair greyer, and unmistakably dead. His mother was crying at the dismal sight, and Remus... his face was unreadable as he looked down at his own dead body... and that of his wife.

"Dora..." he whispered, taking in the vibrant pink hair that was oh-so familiar to him, and the calm face that caused his heart to swell with love... she couldn't be... she was so lively...

Kneeling down next to the bodies, Remus coordinated the outstretched hands on top of each other, knowing that would be what he'd have wanted, before rising to his feet again, not looking at anyone, his jaw set, his face damp with tears.

"Let's go." Harry looked into the face of the other Harry stood in front of him, looking down at Remus and Tonks' lifeless bodies on the floor. His face was closed off, but Harry could see the pain in his eyes... _he had loved them _Harry thought sadly, as the other Harry tore his eyes away, taking charge and leading the group once more away from the Great Hall where the damage was just as dreadful.

From there, Harry kept his eyes trained on the floor, not wanting to discover Uncle Sirius' dead body, or – god forbid – his parents'.

Eventually, they came to a stop, Harry almost colliding with the person in front of him.

The other Harry turned to the others with him, Professor McGonagall, Professor Sprout and for some unfathomable reason, Ginny Weasley, Ron's little sister. "Leave us, please." The other Harry commanded, and the professors immediately put up a fuss.

"Harry, it's not safe." McGonagall insisted, "They could be Death Eaters."

The other Harry looked down at the elder wand in his hand. "They are unarmed, and I have the elder wand. I am safe." He paused for a second; looking at Ginny, then back at the teachers. "Can you send Ron and Hermione, please?" he asked, and after hesitating, the teachers nodded and left them alone. Ginny remained where she was.

The other Harry looked over at her. "Ginny." He said quietly,

"I'm not leaving you." Ginny demanded, her eyes fiery, and a semblance of a grin appeared on the other Harry's face.

"Of course not." He said, seemingly with relief, before turning back to Harry and the others.

"What kind of sick joke is this?" he demanded, the semblance of a child gone in the blink of an eye, and Harry was again struck by the difference between them. "Who are you? Why are you here?" His voice was strained with upset and pain, and his eyes blazed with an unspoken fury... and was that a little hope?

Remus stepped forwards, "Harry?" he said quietly, and the blazingly green eyes turned to him. "I don't know what happened. We were talking in my office, Sirius fell over, there was some form of an explosion and suddenly we were here. I theorise that we must be in a parallel universe," The other Harry snorted in disbelief, but Remus ploughed on. "I have read of such things, and there have been examples of cross-dimensional travel in the past. I don't know to what sort of place we have come to..." he looked around at the war-struck castle. "But I think we should get home as soon as possible."

The other Harry seemed to consider his words, obviously struggling to contain himself, Ginny's hand resting on his arm seemed to be the only thing keeping him calm.

"Why now?" he whispered, shaking his head and looking at the floor. "Why can't I just catch a _break_?" He ran a hand through his hair, and spun round, holding up his wand as footsteps sounded up the hallway.

Two familiar figures came into view; the taller one caused Harry's heart to leap in recognition. Ron Weasley looked very similar, the same height, build, same vibrant hair... but a more serious expression than Harry had ever seen adorned his blood-smeared face, there was a burn mark on his robes... but it was his eyes that were the most changed, the deep sadness contained in them almost caused Harry physical pain to see it. He cast his eyes to the other person with him.

Bushy-haired and commanding, Hermione seemed very similar too... her teeth seemed smaller – the amount of times Harry had teased her for them – but her eyes somehow looked more comfortable. They were still harder and more pain-filled and haunted, but less lonely-looking. With a shock, Harry noticed Ron's hand entwined in hers and wondered not for the first time what was up with this world.

Hermione and Ron ran towards them, and the other Harry's wand dropped in relief at seeing their faces. Jolting forwards, he caught them in a hug, and the three of them stood entwined for a few seconds, causing Harry to feel somewhat uncomfortable, like this moment was not meant to be seen, before they broke apart, and turned to their unwelcome guests.

"What do I do?" the other Harry asked quietly, looking to Hermione (of all people) for guidance.

Hermione seemed to think for a moment before turning to Ginny. "Over the last year, before you decided to hide, were there any examples of the Carrows or other staff questioning the students using a method other than..." she looked at the strangers awkwardly, "you know..." she trailed off, and Ginny nodded seemingly understanding.

"I think there's some veritaserum in Snape's office." She affirmed. Harry looked up into the faces of his parents. His mother looked upset and worried about what was happening. His father's face was set in determination, and Harry looked back at the other Harry as he made up his mind, leading the way.

Arriving in the office, Harry was struck by how similar it looked to the Snape of his world's office did – dingy, cold and uninviting.

There were bottles of liquids dotted around the room, most labelled, some not. None of them looked very pleasant to drink, some potions a gloopy mixture, grey in colour. The other Harry approached the shelves, looking at the vials with clear contents before stopping in front of one labelled 'veritaserum'. The other Harry grasped it, and turned, looking again to Hermione.

"How do I know this is really what it says it is?" he asked, not wanting to poison their... visitors. Hermione frowned at the bottle, thinking deeply.

Ron spoke up. "You could test it." He said, looking to Hermione for validation, but his girlfriend just shook her head. "It could be poisoned." She argued. "Maybe there's a spell that can test it..."

Lily Potter spoke up, quietly. "I know a spell." She said, taking half a step forwards, "I'm quite proficient in potions."

The three young adults looked up. "How do we know we can trust her?" Ron muttered, and Hermione shrugged, "We haven't got a choice." She said.

Lily stepped forwards, "It won't harm the potion." She said, "And I'll volunteer to go first if you want." She volunteered. James stepped forwards, setting his hand on her arm and looking worriedly into her eyes. "Lily." He said warningly, but the red-head just calmly took his hand from her arm.

"I have to, James." She said seriously, and looking into her eyes, James nodded his head and backed away, submitting to her wishes.

Lily stepped forwards. "The spell is _Revale veritaserum_." She told them. "Just wave your wand. I cannot cast it; I do not have a wand. If it glows green for a second, it is confirmed as veritaserum."

Hermione nodded, stepping forwards, waving her wand over the potion and muttering the spell. The potion glowed green for three seconds before fading back to the clear liquid. Lily nodded.

"I'll go first then." She said, holding her hand out for the vial. Hesitating for a second, the other Harry handed it to her, and she dropped two drops onto her tongue.

"What is your name?" he asked.

"Lily Potter."

"When were you born?"

"January 30th, 1960." The other Harry looked over to his friends for a moment, his face unreadable. Ron nodded at him, and the other Harry continued.

"What is your intention here?"

"I don't know how we got here, the potion exploded onto us. I just want to go back home."

"What happened on October 31st 1981?" the other Harry's voice took on a slightly desperate tone.

Lily frowned in confusion. "I do not remember. Our son was only a baby so I presume we were looking after him?"

The other Harry collapsed back into a chair with a sigh, resting his head in his hands.

"Do you know of anyone called either Voldemort or Tom Riddle?"

Lily looked again confused. "No. I know no-one of either of those names."

James stepped forwards. "That's enough. If you want any more answers, you can question us." He gestured to himself, Sirius and Remus. The other Harry looked at him through tired eyes.

"Take the potion." He said, "All of you," he was looking at Harry. "And make sure no more than three drops." He warned, knowing the dangers of veritaserum.

Stepping forwards, James took the potion, placing two drops onto his tongue. Sirius took the potion from him, following suit, and Remus did the same.

Harry took the potion from Remus, pausing before carefully putting one drop, then two onto his tongue.

It was the strangest sensation. All desire to hide anything or lie vanished, and he looked over at the other Harry expectantly.

"Your names?" the other Harry begun.

"Harry Potter." "James Potter." "Sirius Black." "Remus Lupin."

The other Harry ran a hand through his hair tiredly. "Are you Death Eaters?" he asked bluntly.

"No." "Not that I know of," "I don't know... what's a Death Eater?" "I don't think so..."

"Have any of you heard the names Voldemort or Tom Riddle?"

"No." They all chorused, and the other Harry nodded, looking at Ron and Hermione.

"If I ask you questions, without the veritaserum... will you answer me as honestly as possible?"

"Yes." They all agreed, and the other Harry stood up, Hermione holding out the antidote.

They all put two drops on their tongues and stood around each other.

"What happened here?" Sirius asked, looking at Ron, Hermione, Harry and Ginny, their serious faces and battle-scarred appearance.

The other Harry sighed. "It's a long story." He muttered, "Let's go somewhere more inviting, and we can talk." He said, walking out of the room heavily as if the world rested on his shoulders.

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><p><strong>So, what do you think? <strong>

**Please review :)**

**Oreal**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey! Another update! (Seriously, this is the first time ive ever kept up with weekly updates! Im so proud of myself XD)**

**I hope you enjoy! I still dont own Harry Potter!  
><strong>

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><p><strong>Chapter 4<strong>

Harry sat cross-legged on the floor of the Gryffindor common room. Behind him on the sofa, his parents sat, one hand resting on each of his shoulders. He wouldn't admit it, but the gesture filled him with warmth, and made him feel safe. Uncle Moony stood behind the sofa, his face closed, and his eyes wary. He didn't trust this reality – the reality in which his family had been destroyed. The thought made him feel cold inside, made him feel like the whole place was giving off a negative aura. Sirius lounged in an armchair, his handsome face flickering in the firelight.

Before him sat the other Harry, Ron and Hermione Granger, all of whom looked at them with mistrust, like they could attack them any minute. The other Harry began to talk...

"This story is long, and it started even before I was born. I will try to give you the short version. A long time ago, there was a child born, called Tom Riddle. In short, he grew up to be an incredibly dark wizard who called himself Voldemort. You saw what he'd become."

Harry shuddered in remembrance.

"When I was a year old, on Halloween, Voldemort tracked down the Potters. There was a prophecy, which spoke of a child born at the end of July who would be the one to defeat him. The house was under a fidilius charm, and my parents put their trust in the wrong person. A friend of theirs betrayed them to Voldemort, telling of their location. Voldemort made his way into the Potter's house—"

James interrupted. "Wait! Who... who betrayed us? Them I mean...?"

The other Harry looked at him with eyes older than his age. "Are you sure you want to know?" he asked carefully. "In your world, you might be friends with them, and they may have turned out a good person. I don't want to betray your trust."

Harry looked curiously up at his parents, wondering who it could be; they had many close friends, the Longbottoms', the Bones'... James nodded at the other Harry. "I want to know."

"It was Peter Pettigrew."

"No!" Lily exclaimed in shock. "Peter?" she knew him well, remembering the numerous Christmases and Birthdays he had been round, a huge smile on his face, a present for Harry in his arms. "He cannot be the same man!"

The other Harry looked sad. "He was a coward. In your world, his life was never threatened, so he remained loyal." The marauders nodded solemnly. "As I was saying, Voldemort broke into the house and killed my parents." Harry gasped, his hands flying to his mouth, feeling his parents' nails dig into his shoulders in worry. He could not imagine growing up without them. The other Harry's eyes were sad as he looked down at his hands. "My Godfather, Sirius Black, went after Peter, and confronted him. Peter yelled at him that he had betrayed my parents, and blew the street apart with a wand behind his back, killing twelve people. He then cut his finger off and transformed into a rat, causing everyone to believe him dead. Sirius was taken off to Azkaban for the murder of twelve innocents, sentenced to life, and believed to be a strong supporter of Voldemort. I was given to the Dursleys."

The other Harry paused, looking up. Sirius had fallen out of his chair when he heard about Azkaban, and was gaping at him, wide eyed, his hands shaking. James was looking pale, gripping Lily's hand tightly as if she was going to suddenly die on him. Remus had frozen in horror, barely being able to imagine how his counterpart had been able to survive so long without any of his friends.

"The Dursleys?" Harry spluttered, being unable to take it in. "as in, Vile Vernon, Fancy Pants Petunia and Disgusting Dudley?" he had met his family several times, and each visit was as bad as the last. He couldn't imagine having to _live_ with them! Surprisingly, the other Harry grinned a little.

"I prefer Dinky Diddydums." He returned, and Harry snorted loudly. Sirius let out a barking laugh and James chuckled. Lily and Remus seemed to relax a little more.

As Harry listened to the life he could easily have had, the tension in the room rose gradually. He hugged his knees to his chest and realised exactly why he was not like the boy sat in front of him. He had been through so much. Harry didn't think he'd have been able to cope, but there was living proof in front of him that he could.

He thought about the things that were important in his life, and they dwindled into next to nothing. What did NEWTs matter? The boy sat in front of him had not taken them. What did being attractive to girls matter? The boy in front of him had found love while he had been floundering after numerous large-breasted, air-headed girls who would be easy to coax into bed... He hadn't anything useful to say about his life.

As the other Harry spoke of Hermione and her friendship, Harry couldn't help but feel guilty, thinking of the bushy-haired girl in his world whose only friend was Neville Longbottom – who appeared to be a nice guy as well – and who he teased mercilessly.

He stared down at the floor as he realised he had, perhaps, lost out on a fantastic friendship (and someone who could have helped his grades).

Was it worth it? Harry wondered, watching the other Harry's desperately sad eyes sparkling with tears as he told of how Sirius had sunk through the veil in his fifth year, never to be seen again (Sirius was, for once, rendered speechless). All this death? Was it worth it?

The other Harry was a better person, undoubtedly. He knew where his priorities lay. He wouldn't hurt people by playing dangerous pranks. He wouldn't use a girl, allow them to fall for him, and then ditch them – his first kiss wasn't until his fifth year, for goodness' sake! The other Harry wouldn't argue with his parents about tidying his room...

As the other Harry finished the tale, so much later, the room was silent. Harry dropped his head into his hands, shaking slightly.

What sort of a person was he? His life was so meaningless... He got kicks out of others' humiliation. He took his family for granted, not realising how lucky he was. He thought of all the people the other Harry had saved, had helped... he knew almost for certain, he would have left Draco to burn, saving his own skin, and his friends' over that of his enemy.

Taking a deep breath, he looked up into the face of his doppelganger, who was staring at him curiously with intense green eyes. _His_ eyes. Harry wiped his face, and took a deep breath.

"You're a good person, Harry." He said quietly, looking the other Harry directly in his eyes. "I hadn't realised how much I took for granted." He ran a hand through his hair. "You've done so much good in the world. You've made people happy and given them their freedom. I've taken my life for granted. I hadn't realised what I was missing out on. When I get back home, I'm going to change things. I'm going to change who I am. Because I could have been you, Harry, so easily, and I didn't even think... I'm going to be more like you. A better person." He finished, and the other Harry eyed him curiously, before nodding solemnly.

"I always wondered." He began, "I wondered what the world would be like without the war and the chaos... I suppose I didn't think about what I'd be like." Harry smiled slightly, holding a hand out for the other Harry to take.

"You're free now." He said, "You have a meaning in your life. A woman who loves you," he smiled at Ginny who smiled back, her eyes completely dry, and her face strong. "And you deserve it. You deserve to be happy." The other Harry grinned, placing his hand into Ginny's and looked sideways at Hermione.

"So, Hermione. Any ideas?"

Hermione grinned mischievously at him and swirled her wand in her hand. "I think we need to go to the library." She said brightly, and Harry laughed as the other Harry and Ron groaned. A quiet thump came from behind them, and Harry turned to see Remus grabbing Sirius and Lily holding James' arm in a vice-like grip.

"You're coming too." They commanded, and Sirius and James' eyes went wide.

"But Moony!" Sirius whined loudly, "you _know_ I'm allergic to the library!" James nodded in agreement, but Lily raised an eyebrow at him, and he looked at the floor. "_Fine."_ James groaned, shuffling his feet.

The other Harry laughed loudly at the scene, and after a second, everyone else joined in.

"You never change." The other Harry told Sirius who grinned at him sheepishly.

HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP

Entering the library, Harry bit off a gasp. The bookshelves lay on their sides, piles of ripped pages laying everywhere. A cry sounded behind him, and he turned, his eyes still wide, to see Hermione, her hand to her face, her eyes horrified. It was as if a close friend had died, and Harry backed quickly out of the ruin, hardly able to believe it.

He had never liked the library, but it had always been there... dependable.

It felt like everything had hit him at once. His world was far away. All his friends – would he ever see them again? Would he be stuck in this terrible place forever? What was going to happen to him? Would his friends miss him or would they be gone too... were they still real? Was anything real?

"Potter!" a shout came from down the hallway, and they all turned to see Professor McGonagall walking briskly towards them. "Thank Merlin I've found you. I'm terribly sorry, but it's chaos in there. We're trying to round up the remaining death eaters, but they're proving... difficult."

They all looked towards the other Harry, who looked dog-tired. He nodded at Professor McGonagall. "I'll be right there." He muttered, looking back at the people behind him. He threw them their wands, and Harry barely caught his by his fingertips. A clattering noise told him Sirius had dropped his.

"You might as well make yourselves useful." The other Harry muttered. "We need to start fixing this hell." Harry looked down at his wand sadly, before following the other Harry into the Great Hall.

There was a group of unfamiliar faces in the corner of the room, a horde of people stood around them, holding their wands towards them with anger. Harry recognised one of the Weasley twins in the crowd and fleetingly wondered where the other one was as he made his way through the room, curious eyes watching him unnervingly. He gripped his wand tighter as the other Harry spoke to a couple of teachers towards the front of the conglomeration.

"We don't know what to do with them." Professor Flitwick was saying. "Several are pleading the imperius curse. We don't know who's telling the truth." Harry provided the flask of veritaserum from his inside pocket. "use it sparingly." He told the teacher.

"What do we do with the liars?" Slughorn put in.

Harry ran a hand through his hair. "I don't know... Send them to Azkaban? I don't want any more unnecessary blood spilled, but I don't know how long it will take to get the Dementors back on our side. Where else is there?"

The conversation went on like this for a while before Harry heard a curious voice at his side.

"Who are you?" Harry felt a shockwave go through him as he looked upon the face of Seamus Finnegan, one of his best friends. His face looked like a huge bruise, and if he hadn't heard the familiar accent, he would not have recognised him. "Cause you look like Harry, but you haven't got the scar. Are you a Death Eater?" Seamus raised his wand warningly.

Harry raised his hands in surrender. "No! Why do people keep _saying_ that?" He rolled his eyes. "I'm Harry Potter from an Alternative Universe. Where none of this crap happened. I'm not the chosen boy or whatever; I'm just an ordinary kid who was catapulted between worlds at – apparently – the worst possible time." He ran a hand through his hair in frustration. "What the _hell_ happened to your face, Seamus?"

Seamus didn't lower his wand but gave him a slightly sheepish look. "This last year, the school's been run by Death Eaters... Let's just say, I didn't entirely do what I was told." Harry raised an eyebrow at him in amusement. "That sounds like something you'd do." He agreed.

A loud _crack _echoed from behind Harry, who jumped and spun on his heel to cries of fury as the entirety of the captured Death Eaters disapperated into thin air.

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><p><strong>So? Anything to say? What do you think? Anything you'd like to see in later chapters? (im pretty much making it up as i go along now, the end of this chapter completely veered off my plan)<strong>

**Review! thanks for reading!**

**Oreal  
><strong>


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey! It's Friday again! That means I'm updating! Yay! **

**Uh I don't own anything and I hope you enjoy Chapter 5 XD  
><strong>

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><p><strong>Chapter 5<strong>

"Why didn't I _think_?" Hermione ranted, striding back and forth in front of them all. "I should have _realised_ this would happen when the wards fell!"

Harry watched silently as Ron stared hopelessly at her upset. "Come on, Hermione, we were all a bit occupied. It shouldn't be your job anyway." He insisted gently, "It wasn't your job, and even if you had known, there's nothing you could have done."

As the words got through, Hermione groaned once more in frustration before sitting down, her head in her hands, and Ron immediately went over and put his arms round her. Harry was astonished at how well they complimented each other – how had he not seen it before?

His eyes drifted over to the other couple in the room. The other Harry sat, his eyes locked on the form of Ginny sleeping in his lap, curled round like a cat. Harry felt a slight jerk in his stomach as he watched the other Harry gently bring his hand forwards, lovingly smoothing back her fiery hair.

He had known Ginny almost all his life, being friends with Ron and his brothers since they were toddlers together, they were a second family to him, and he had never really seen Ginny as anything but the girl surrounded by brothers. She had played with them often, but because there were so many of them, Harry never really thought about her.

He hadn't seen how beautiful she had become – when had she stopped being a child? Thinking of Ginny, he could only really think of the little girl he'd played with, not the young adult she was now...

Ron's little sister.

But, looking at Ron, he seemed content with his best friend's and his sister's relationship.

Harry jumped as he felt a finger jab into his side and spun round to face uncle Padfoot. Grinning, he turned to face him as Sirius raised an eyebrow at him, looking over at the other Harry, who had now leant back against the sofa, closing his eyes, his hand still entwined with Ginny's red hair.

"What?" Harry said quietly, as the room seemed to have quietened to a low murmur of voices. Sirius winked at him.

"Don't think so hard, you'll hurt yourself." Harry grinned, shoving him. "No, really. This must be really strange for you." Harry looked back at the room, at the parallel characters.

"It feels like a dream, really." Harry said to Sirius, "I keep wondering when I'm going to wake up, and life is going to go back to reality. But really, it's opened my eyes to what's important." He smiled slightly as Ron dropped a kiss onto the top of Hermione's head, "and how badly I've treated some people..."

Sirius smiled sadly, putting an arm round him. "You aren't a bad person, Harry." He insisted, "Just because you haven't saved the world. You haven't actually hurt anyone, and your intentions are pure. Sometimes, your actions are a little misled, but for that you can blame us. You act like we did when we were your age, and I think maybe you're lucky to have this revelation... I would never have guessed that about Sniv- Severus," he said referring to what the other Harry had told them earlier that day. "Don't blame yourself because you have different friends, you're a different person to him."

Harry nodded as Sirius pulled him into a hug, ruffling his hair against Harry's struggles and protests. When they separated, Harry was grinning and shaking his head in exasperation and Sirius winked at him, "that's better."

HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP

Harry startled out of his doze when a strangled yell sounded out through the room. Harry jumped to his feet, struggling to pull his wand out of his pocket, looking around for the source of the noise.

His eyes settled on the other Harry, who was slumped over sideways, a very awake Ginny next to him looking unsure as he thrashed around in his sleep, his face crumpled and sweaty. Hermione was looking around warily as Ron ran over to where the other Harry was crying out, straining to escape his nightmare and shook him violently.

The other Harry jolted awake, his glasses askew, his green eyes wide with horror. It took him a while to figure out where he was, but Harry saw the dawning realisation and embarrassed flush when he did.

"Sorry." He said sadly, and Harry was suddenly gripped with a realisation.

Even though the other Harry was a better person for it, he would never have wanted to face the horrors he had. He would never have wanted to watch his life fall apart around him without any control over it. He would never give up the life he had had for the one he could have had.

The other Harry relaxed into Ginny's comforting caresses, still looking a little embarrassed, but more comforted. Harry caught a few of her muttered words, such as "protect" and "don't worry" and "I'll look after you" and he smiled a little, knowing the other Harry could be in no better hands.

Hermione spoke up sadly. "I think we should get out of Hogwarts." She said, "There's nothing here for us now." The other Harry nodded in agreement.

"I think you're right. It will be easier to think away from here." He looked apologetically at Sirius, "this isn't going to be much fun for you, I'm afraid."

Sirius frowned at him in confusion as Hermione grabbed his arm. "Hold on to Harry." She told him, and the last thing Harry saw was Ron grabbing Ginny and Remus and the other Harry approaching his parents warily before he was surrounded by darkness on all sides, the slightly familiar sense of disapperating leaving him feeling queasy as they appeared suddenly in an unfamiliar street.

Confused, he looked up at uncle Padfoot, who had turned pale, and was staring intensely between numbers 11 and 13 (12 seemed to be missing), shaking slightly.

"Please... no." He muttered, and Hermione shot him a sympathetic look as Ron, Remus and Ginny appeared next to him. Remus looked as confused as he did, looking surprised at Sirius' reaction.

"Pads? Are you okay?" the werewolf asked worriedly, waving an arm in front of his face. Sirius blinked at him.

"Uh. Y-yeah, I'm fine." He insisted vaguely, as another _crack _marked the arrival of the last of their party. James took one look at Sirius' pale face, his eyes zoned in on the road sign and he gasped in realization.

"Why are we here?" James asked, and the other Harry looked sadly at the three friends.

"The house of Harry Potter can be found at number twelve, Grimmauld Place." He said, and Harry's eyes widened as he looked up at the house materialising between numbers 11 and 13. Okay, well that explained where number 12 had gone, anyway.

Remus had groaned in realisation at the name of the house. "You live_ here_?" he said incredulously as they made their way towards the house, Sirius with trepidation. Harry felt incredibly confused – he had never heard of this place! What was the big deal? It was just a house concealed with magic!

As they went into the house, a house elf approached them, and Harry heard Sirius groan again "he's still alive?" and was struck with another bout of confusion as the other Harry addressed the elf.

"Hello Kreacher." He said kindly.

The elf gave a low bow, "master Harry!" it exclaimed, "Kreacher was hoping you would live. Kreacher wonders..."

"It's done, Kreacher." Harry told it, "Master Regulus' work is complete." And suddenly Harry understood. He had heard of 'master Regulus', Sirius' upper-class, Slytherin-hearted brother who looked down upon them all. Was this the house Sirius had grown up in?

Kreacher bowed deeply once more, looking at the other occupants of the room. His large, yellow eyes widened in shock as he saw the newcomers, and he sunk into a more patronising bow.

"Master Sirius." He said in a less-than-respecting voice. "Kreacher wonders what miracle brings master here, Kreacher thought master was dead."

Sirius looked at him warily. "Um." He said eloquently.

Kreacher's large eyes disconcertingly found Harry's and they widened – if possible – even further. His jaw dropped before he dropped into a deep bow.

"Two Master Harrys!" his voice exclaimed, "Kreacher wonders how this is possible!"

Harry found himself soundlessly mouthing words, trying to find a way to explain this madness to a _house-elf_ of all things! "Um." He parroted Sirius, falling silent as the tennis-ball eyes turned back up to face him.

Luckily the other Harry stepped in, and if Harry wasn't mistaken, he seemed to be enjoying their confusion. "Kreacher, these visitors come from another dimension. It's difficult to explain. We will sort out sleeping, we will not be needing you tonight... you are free to do as you wish."

Kreacher thankfully turned away from Harry, leaving him to peer up at Sirius who looked just as gobsmacked as he did. What was happening here?

Suddenly, Sirius seemed to realise where he was and his confusion immediately sunk once more into melancholia, looking round at the bleak decor.

A _crack_ symbolised Kreacher's leaving to stock up on food now 'master Harry' was here, and Harry breathed a sigh of relief.

"You cleaned up a bit." Sirius' voice didn't sound like him. There was little amusement in his tone as he eyed the place.

The other Harry grimaced a little, "this place was the Headquarters for the Order of the Phoenix." He told them, and Sirius nodded,

"I think you mentioned that." He remembered, "You didn't mention it was your house now, though."

The other Harry looked at him sheepishly. "Sorry about that, Sirius left it to me when he... you know." His eyes fell once more into sadness as he remembered. "Anyway, you... _he_ left me Kreacher too... Should have seen the Dursleys' faces when he materialised in the middle of the living room."

When the other Harry grinned, it completely transfigured his face, the misery fell off, and he seemed to forget everything he'd gone through. His green eyes glittered, and Harry found himself wishing the other Harry would smile more, just so he wouldn't suffer so much. He saw Ginny looking at the other Harry and realised from her intense expression that she would do all she could to make that come true.

Hermione suddenly spoke up, "shall we go in? There's no point standing in the hall. I suppose we'll allocate you bedrooms..." They made their way into the kitchen and dining area. Sirius' expression was as bleak as the rooms they walked through as they explored the house.

"What are they for?" Remus' voice came from the back, looking at the strange assortment of blankets next to a sofa in the corner of one of the rooms. The trio looked a little awkward as the sight reminded them of the last moments they had spent there.

Ron spoke up, "when we were... hunting horcruxes, we stayed here for a bit... that is... where we slept."

Harry was struck with the horror of the war the people in front of him had gone through. They had been too scared to separate, so they had slept in the lounge? He looked upon the people in a new light... they had been scared, terrified even. They were only human – it takes more courage to fight when you are terrified of the outcome than if you are confident in the victory.

Making their way up the stairs, James was talking loudly to Remus, making wild gestures, when Ginny turned round and made shushing noises. "Be quiet!" she insisted, "We don't want anything to wake up!"

"Wake up?" James asked in confusion, "what do you... are those _heads_?" he stared wide eyed at the decapitated line of house-elves and walked _smack_ into a hand rail, letting out a surprised shout which was quickly drowned out by sudden loud screams.

"_ABOMINATIONS OF FILTH! HOW DARE YOU DEFILE THE NOBLE HOUSE OF BLACK! MUDBLOODS AND BLOOD TRAITORS... WHAT IS THIS WORLD COMING TO? OUT! OUT OF MY HOUSE I SAY!"_

The people unfamiliar with the screaming of Mrs Black stared in horror at the portrait.

"I don't remember that..." Sirius muttered, gazing with disgust at the mad face of his mother. "Must say, she's looking particularly horrid today."

The other Harry marched forwards; tugging on the curtains on one side, and Ron rushed to help him, but not before Mrs Black had seen Sirius.

"_YOUUUUU!"_ She screamed, _"TRAITOR TO YOUR OWN FAMILY! YOU CURSED CRIMINAL OF A SON! HOW DARE YOU COME BACK HERE, YOU UNGRATEFUL-"_

With a grunt, the other Harry and Ron managed to tug the curtains together, leaving their ears ringing in the sudden quiet.

"That was nice..." Sirius' face was ashen as he staggered away from there. "Now, if you don't mind, I'm gonna find my room and sleep until this nightmare is over."

Harry stared after him as he left, no longer curious as to why Sirius had never talked about his childhood before Hogwarts. If that was _his_ mother... he looked over at his real mother, who was being directed to a room by the other Harry, her face soft and comforting as she looked at him. Harry was reminded that the other Harry's parents had died, and there they were standing in front of him... he wasn't sure if it would be a curse or a blessing to the other boy.

HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP

James sat on the edge of the bed, watching his wife enter the room, wave her wand and transfigure her clothes into more comfortable pyjamas, and slip in next to him. With a smile, he dropped a kiss onto her lips, and pulled back to look at her lovingly.

"What would I do without you?" he asked happily, and she grinned at him.

"You would be old, lonely and most likely living with Sirius." She told him and he grinned, leaning back with a sigh.

"True..." his mind drifted easily to the strange reality they'd found their way to.

"Poor kids." Lily said, seemingly reading his mind. He grunted in agreement. "I mean, what they've gone through... It can't be easy... and the boy... he looks so much like Harry – I mean, he _is_ Harry... but he's so different. You look into his eyes, and they're so much sadder. He seems scared of our presence, like being too comfortable with us would be too painful. He's like our son – I mean he is our son... but..."

"I know." James agreed, turning to look at her. "He's never had any parents, and it seems any adults he looked up to were taken from him... but there's nothing we can do. What's in the past is done."

Lily smiled at him mischievously. "Or... we could show him what it's like to be loved, while we're here. We can show him, for once in his life, what it's like to have parents..."

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><p><strong>So? What did you think? Criticism? Any Plot ideas?<strong>

**Review please :)**

**Thanks for reading!**

**Oreal  
><strong>


	6. Chapter 6

**Hi! Sorry, I meant to upload this yesterday, but I was watching Children In Need and didn't get round to it.**

**Next update SHOULD be on Friday, but I'm starting to struggle to keep up (I'm no longer any chapters ahead), but I will try and get one written this week.**

**I do not own Harry Potter!  
><strong>

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><p><strong>Chapter 6<strong>

Harry meandered calmly through the house, a small frown on his face as he tried to remember the way to the kitchen. He passed Sirius' room (it had his name on the door) and, realising it was empty, went inside. He smirked at the muggle posters of bikini-clad girls on motorcycles, shaking his head in amused disbelief. He saw a familiar picture of the marauders stuck to one of the walls, as his father had several similar ones dotted around the house (his favourite by far was the one where James had taken a photo of Remus waking Sirius up by dangling him upside-down by his ankle – Sirius' face was hilarious).

Edging out of the room, Harry made his way downstairs, finding it difficult to fathom his Uncle Padfoot ever living in a place like this – it was like a cage! Hearing voices, Harry finally managed to find the kitchen, and peered in to find an amusing scene.

The other Harry sat, looking bewildered, at the table as Lily placed a plate of bacon and sausages in front of him with an "Eat up, you're so thin I can almost see through you!" James stood with his back to the scene, grinning slightly as he spoke loudly (with numerous winks) to Ginny.

"And what is your Quiddich team?"

"Holyhead Harpies." Ginny looked like she was enjoying herself immensely.

"Ah well, it's better than the Chudley Cannons, at least." James seemed accepting. "And a red-head, that is good. Have you heard of the Potter curse?" he asked her, and, laughing, she asked what that was. "You see, we're all cursed to fall for a red-head. I fell for my Lily soon as I saw her, but enough about me..."

Harry's eyes drifted to where Lily was sat with the other Harry, a small smile on her face as she begged questions of him. "And what is your favourite colour?"

"Red." The other Harry looked confused, "you?"

"Mine's green. What's your favourite food?"

It went on like this for a while before Harry felt a prod in his back and turned to see Ron behind him. "What you waiting out here for?" he asked, pushing the door open.

"I was just watching." Harry felt a little uncomfortable as the occupants of the room looked up at him. Ron's eyes settled on the other Harry talking to Lily and turned with a small, sad smile to Harry.

"I understand this is probably hard for you, mate." He said quietly, "And that alternate guy is so different to you. It's probably weird watching him being with his parents... hey, why are you laughing?"

Ron looked around, and saw the occupants of the room looking at him in amusement, more than one of them laughing. Harry poked Ron in the side. "I'm the alternate Harry you idiot."

"No way!" Ron looked confused, looking over at the other Harry who was doubled over in laughter.

"Ron, he's telling the truth."

Ron looked from one Harry to the next. "How do I know you're not having me on?" he asked, eyes narrowed, paranoia trained from years with the twins.

The other Harry pushed his fringe back, revealing a jagged lightning scar and Harry found himself staring at it – was this what had caused so much hassle? Was that what you got if you survived the Avada Kedavra?

Ron looked appeased and embarrassed, sitting down next to the other Harry and happily helping himself to the last sausage. The other Harry hit him over the head. "Hey, that was my sausage!"

Ron quickly ate the sausage before it was taken off him and moaned slightly, "Ah, sausage, how I have missed you!" his eyes slid closed and he relaxed back in his chair to more enjoy the taste. An eye cracked open. "Is there any more?"

A loud _crack _symbolised the appearance of Kreacher and Ron jumped, falling out of his chair, and hitting the floor with a bang and a groan. "Ow."

Harry laughed as the other Harry gave Kreacher instructions on breakfast, and the elf disappeared again with a low bow and an "of course, Master Harry, Kreacher will be right back."

James and Ginny made their way over to the table with a shake of the hand and a "well don't break his heart." With accompanying wink.

The other Harry ducked his head, blushing slightly, but with a pleased smile on his face, he took Ginny's hand as she sat down between him and Lily, who was still fussing slightly.

"Would you look at you three?" she was saying as Hermione walked in the room, still in her clothes from the night before, only more crumpled. "You look..."

"Like we've been living in the woods for several months?" Hermione butted in, sitting down with a yawn, "I haven't slept that well for _ages_!"

Lily blushed slightly. "Well I don't mean to be inconsiderate, but yes... I understand the necessity at the time, but now it's over, you can't carry on looking like a bunch of ruffians!" she began fiddling with Ron's hair, while he cowered and shied away. "Gerroff me!" he whined while she tutted.

"You three need attention. And not the medical kind." She went over to Hermione, and patted her kindly on the arm." I'm sure it won't be too hard to sort you out a new wardrobe. And a haircut." She eyed the plait with trepidation. How bad is it?"

Hermione grinned at her. "Not too bad, but you would not _believe _how long it's been without a wash." Lily tutted, and Ginny shook her head. "We'll have to sort that out. I think we should go to a muggle hairdresser. The wizarding world is most likely a bit preoccupied at the moment, what with hunting down Death Eaters and getting themselves back on their feet." Lily looked over at Ginny, running a hand through her hair too. "You can come too, I think. We'll have you girls back to normal in no time. There's nothing more relaxing than feeling like you."

And with a loud _crack_, the males all shook themselves out of the horror that was female grooming and tucked into the large platter of sausages Kreacher had appeared holding, with loud moans of appreciation.

HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP

"And then Moony says 'No Professor, they were in the dormitory with me!' And because he was so innocent, McGonagall believed him!"

The girls had gone off to have some girl-time, but meanwhile Remus was blushing as Sirius regaled the other Harry and Ron with the tale of the creation of the marauders. "We soon corrupted him." Sirius winked at the laughing teens, as Remus shoved him sideways off the sofa.

"I was good until I met you two." He raised an eyebrow at James who winked at him. "Good is boring." He complained.

Harry smiled lightly – he had heard this story many times, sitting in the garden of Potter Manor, a cold drink in his hands, eyes wide with awe as Uncle Padfoot, Uncle Moony, Uncle Wormy and Dad laughed together, telling the child numerous tales of their cheeky endeavours. He remembered wanting to be just like them – in fact, he himself had pulled many of the pranks he had been told about.

'Professor Lupin' wasn't always very impressed with his pranks. Being a marauder himself, he had some sort of pranking immunity – it became a bit of a game to Harry, to see if he would be able to trick the best (once).

Harry was brought abruptly out of his thoughts with a jump when a loud noise echoed through the house. The portrait of Sirius' mother immediately started wailing. The other Harry, Ron and Sirius (who was an auror back home) immediately held a defensive stance, on their feet, eyes alert, wands up. Harry quickly joined them, followed closely by his father and Uncle Moony. The other Harry sent out a spell for precaution.

"_Homenum Revelio." _He muttered, and Harry was confused when nothing happened, but the other Harry seemed to tense more. "There's a load of them." He said, worriedly, "They're human, so it's not Kreacher."

Ron seemed like a completely different person in this situation – alert, aware, tense and slightly confident. Harry imagined the Ron he knew in this situation... hands shaky and eyes wide and worried. He looked down to his own slightly wavering wand, taking a deep breath to calm his nerves – there might not be any danger at all, it might be aurors...

The other Harry began to edge out of the room and they all followed. James put a hand on Harry's shoulder.

"You have no training in things like this." He reminded him, trying to hold him back. "It's too dangerous."

Harry shrugged his hand off. "I have as much training as you do." He reminded the Quiddich player. "I'm at the end of my education – Uncle Moony has taught me how to defend myself. I'm coming."

And he followed the rest of the party out of the room, James quickly following in frustration.

The other Harry had stepped into the hall and immediately sounds of spell-casting could be heard. He heard the other Harry shout an "_Expelliarmus!" _and run down the stairs quickly followed by Ron.

Ron hid behind a painting and sent off a quick patronus charm – a terrier, Harry's worried mind dimly recognised, the same as the other world's Ron. Harry saw Uncle Padfoot duelling a fast-moving man – or was it a woman? They were wearing a mask so they could not be recognised.

Harry noticed a jet of red light zooming towards him, and panicking slightly, he quickly cast a "_Protego!"_ which luckily managed to stop the spell and suddenly more spells were flying towards him.

Harry ducked, and sent a "_Stupefy!_" back towards the masked man/woman and was impressed to see a red light zoom from his wand – he had never cast that one before!

As Harry exchanged spells with the man/woman, an idea suddenly popped into his head – it was like pranking someone, duelling. If you cast the right spell, they wouldn't be able to get you. He had 'duelled' Malfoy enough times!

Ducking a jet of light, Harry shouted "_Tarantellegra!" _sending the man/woman's legs into a frenzy. Before they could cast the counter curse, he disarmed them while they were distracted and with a sweep of his wand and a thought _'Levicorpus!' _The man/woman was suddenly screaming insults (a woman then, Harry thought, noticing the high voice). He quickly stupefied her and out of the corner of his eye, saw a green light zooming towards him and felt a sudden force push him to the floor, followed by Uncle Moony's voice yelling a furious spell.

Harry rolled to his feet, realising the implications of the green spell to see his Uncle Moony battling furiously with an unfamiliar man who'd lost his mask. A yank of his robes pulled him backwards into someone's tight grip and the last thing he saw was his father's horrified face before pressure was suddenly pressing into him on all sides.

When the world righted itself, he saw himself in a large group of people in masks, the unknown man behind him still holding him up.

"I've got Potter!" an unfamiliar voice shouted, and the last thing Harry saw was a jet of red light before he fell into blackness.

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><p><strong>Okay. The ending kinda took a life of its own, but I'll try and keep it from getting dark which is more my style.<strong>

**Thanks for reading! Review please!**

**Oreal  
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	7. Chapter 7

**Okay. I deserve to be shot, hanged, drawn and quartered and then shot again. I am so sorry. I don't even know when the last time I updated was, and I've even had this written for a while... I feel so bad, so much for weekly updates!  
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**But I found out I had 106 story alerts (!) and this is mildly alarming and I felt immediately compelled to update immediately.  
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**My excuses are: Originally laziness, then AS level exams, then post-exam laziness... Uh, yeah, again with the shooting thing...  
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**Some of you asked for Teddy and Lupin? I give you this as payment? Enjoy! *hides from rotting fruit*  
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><p><strong>Chapter 7<strong>

Harry blearily awoke, his limbs shaking with cold, his teeth attempting to chatter around the bitter tasting gag forced into his mouth. Blinking, he tried to make out the blurry figures surrounding him, very much aware of his dreadful eyesight. Squinting, he tried to focus on one of the blurry figures who seemed to be gesticulating towards him.

"Yes! That's what I said Nott!" a deep, gravelly voice was intoning "No scar!"

"But that's not possible!" another voice argued. "It's a cursed scar! They don't just _disappear_!"

Harry shook his head, trying to understand. He had been kidnapped... most likely by those death munchers or something that the other Harry had been accusing them of being. It was also obvious that they thought he _was_ the other Harry and had kidnapped him for that reason (as if the other Harry hadn't been through enough).

Fidgeting in his bonds, Harry hoped the death munchers were distracted enough by their argument to notice him.

_Right. _He thought. _Bonds on wrists, most likely rope. _He tugged. _Unyielding. Another piece of rope on ankles. Also unyielding. No glasses. Blind as a bat._

_Not really the best combination. _Harry felt the strangest urge to both laugh and cry, and closed his eyes, trying to quash the feeling. They were about as useful closed as they were open, anyway.

_Um. No way out. No wand. No clothes._

Wait a second! No clothes? _Bugger. _

Harry shivered again, feeling suddenly cramped. Panicked, he slowly opened an eye to find the blurry shape of an evilly grinning face right up against his.

Trying to yell out, Harry wriggled away fruitlessly and the Death muncher's face receded before the gag was shot out from his mouth and Harry immediately yelled out.

"Help!"

The death muncher laughed, sending chills running up and down Harry's spine. "No-one can hear you here." The gravelly voice told him.

Harry's yells ceased and he tried to squirm away, but the Death muncher just seemed amused, flicking his wand, causing Harry to be hoisted into the air by his ankle, a familiar feeling for one who had attended Hogwarts, he was sure, as the spells had happened to all students at least once a year.

Or had they? Harry had no way of knowing that the people of this reality had experienced the same education he had (if being hoisted in the air by your ankles could be classed as 'education'). Swiping the air beneath him, Harry convulsed with shivers, wriggling frantically as he hung upside-down in the air, his breathing fast, trying to cling to the last shreds of decency he had left, his face burning in embarrassment.

"So." The gravelly Death muncher holding him in the air began, "We want answers."

HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP

Lily Potter, Hermione Granger and Ginny Weasley arrived to find the house in a state of chaos. Furniture was overturned, _something_ on the floor was smoking and several members of the household were either nursing minor wounds or panicking.

"What?" Was the first sound uttered as Lily picked her way towards her husband (who was panicking). Her eyes flashed. "_What Just Happened?"_ She demanded of the room, and several people looked up at her, slight horror etched upon their faces.

James Potter was striding across the room, wild-eyed and tearing at his hair. He turned to look at Lily briefly as she entered the room, taking in her confused appearance before letting out a whimper of pain and continued pacing.

_Well he's a whole lot of use_, Lily found herself thinking exasperatedly, scanning the room.

"Where's Harry?" she asked calmly, finding him the only inhabitant missing. Hopefully he was hiding somewhere safe, away from the fight which had obviously just taken place. Again, she was answered with a sea of pale faces, none of whom seemed to be willing to speak.

Getting impatient, Lily strode over to where Remus stood (knowing he was usually the _most_ sane person of the group), and stood in front of him, her arms folded.

Remus winced at the fiery red-head's expression and instantly quailed. "He... We were attacked."

"Yes. That much is obvious." Remus' gaze dropped to his feet, "They took Harry." He whispered, so Lily had to strain to hear it.

"They took-?" Lily's face paled instantly and her hands began to shake. Suddenly, the behaviour of her husband made so much more sense.

"Where? Why are we just _stood here?" _Lily's voice rose to a screech. "WHY ISN'T SOMEONE OUT LOOKING FOR HIM?"

At her outburst, the other Harry began to move forwards, and Lily's gaze turned to his.

"Mum, calm down." He tried to comfort her, but Lily's eyes narrowed.

"You _aren't_ my son!" she reminded him, "My son is _out there somewhere_, and you and your silly little friends _are doing nothing!_" The other Harry flinched away from her, his eyes lowering.

"We don't know where they've taken him." He reminded her, "I've contacted the aurors, and explained the situation. Most of them were there when you appeared. Trust me, we'll find him. We can easily find out the locations of some of the Death Eater hideouts and –"

"We're doing all we can, Mrs Potter. I'm sure the aurors will contact us as soon as they find his location." Hermione's quiet voice cut through Harry's.

Tears pricking at her eyes, Lily turned away, barely listening to the other Harry's voice.

"We can't stay here any longer." The other Harry was saying, "The Death Eaters know where to find us. We can't... it's not safe here anymore."

Hermione, Ron and Ginny appeared to be the only ones listening to the other Harry, as Remus wrestled Sirius to the floor to stop him 'going and looking for myself'. Ron offered the Burrow as a potential place to stay, but it was immediately ruled out because the household would probably be in mourning for their brother, and it was not a homely place at that moment.

Hermione's hand suddenly closed hard on Harry's arm, and he whirled round, wand out, looking for any potential danger, but Hermione was looking at him. "What about Andromeda's place?" she asked quietly, "I'm sure she'd appreciate the help with... with Teddy."

Remus' ears pricked up and he finally tuned into the conversation, thinking of his blue-haired two-year old son whom he and his wife had named after her father, who had cried when he'd found out. Ted Tonks had always been kind to Remus, despite his failings, and had always seen the best in the werewolf.

_They had had Teddy two years before, born with a shock of black hair, which had changed colour repeatedly since he was born. Dora had been ecstatic that he had inherited her gifts and had just started to teach him how to use it (mainly using coloured flashcards). Usually his hair colour matched his mood, which was why his hair was usually blue, showing calmness and serenity._

Did he have a son here too? Was there a Teddy Lupin toddling around who_ – _Remus remembered with a jump – was now an orphan? Remus' attention was suddenly purely on the other Harry's conversation.

"Of course!" The other Harry exclaimed, "I forgot... I'm his godfather, I..." His face froze in horror, "Do I have to look after him? I don't know the first think about looking after a baby!"

_A Baby?_ Was Teddy Lupin in this world _younger_ than the one in his? Surely a toddler could not be referred to as a baby?

"And what about-" The other Harry lowered his voice slightly, but Remus had very good hearing, from his werewolf instincts. "What about Remus? What would his presence mean for them?"

Remus strode over to the conversation, and the four young adults looked guiltily up at him. "I was listening to your conversation." He told them, and they nodded in acceptance, "I think you're right. We can't stay here, and I know Andy. Ted can keep her in check, I'm sure... what's wrong?" Remus asked quickly, in response to their sideways glances.

Hermione looked at him sadly, "I'm sorry to say this Remus, but Ted... He was hunted for being a muggle-born. They – they caught him, I'm afraid."

Remus sat down with a bump. "So, Andy's all on her own, mourning for pretty much _all_ the members of her family, _with_ a child to look after?" he asked incredulously. "She... I know she acts strong, but... I'm not sure how well she can cope!"

"And what about coping with your presence?" Ginny input quietly, "I don't mean to be rude, but-"

Remus shushed her. "I completely understand. I think... you should explain the situation to her before she sees any of us. Meanwhile, I think, we would like to help on the search for our Harry."

The other Harry seemed startled at the use of 'our', before his face closed. Remus was shocked at the control the other Harry seemed to have over his emotions, and showing them. Their Harry had always been so open about everything. Remus tried not to think of the reasoning behind this control.

"Of course, I will contact the aurors, and see what you can do. Of course, you can't expect much, but I'm sure they will need all the help they can get, especially as they are trying to round up any remaining Death Eaters." The other Harry looked curiously at his par- _their_ Harry's parents, wondering...

"Are any of you aurors?" he asked Remus, "In this world, both James and Sirius-"

"Just Sirius." Remus informed him, "James plays Quiddich professionally." The other Harry nodded, again with that strange closed expression on his face.

"Sirius can probably help more than you can, then." He said, apologetically, "they will accept him easier, and he has the training. I'm not sure if you would be allowed in the field without the appropriate training, even Da- James."

HPHPHPHPHPHPHP

Remus waited just outside the wards surrounding Andromeda Tonks' house, his mind whirling, full of thoughts about his son – how was his _real_ son, back home? Was Dora okay on her own? She usually was, it was hard having Remus work at the boarding school all day, but he usually went home to her on the evenings, except full moons or when he worked late (which tended to be a lot around the exam period). He remembered that she had been visiting her mother (this house, in fact), when the chaos had begun, and that was why he had been at Hogwarts with James, Lily and Sirius when Harry had burst in.

A sudden worry about the upcoming full moon, send his gaze sharply into the air, where a sliver of moon was visible, having risen before the day was out. Surprised and confused, he wondered about the two worlds' time streams, how they must have been out by about a week.

A sudden noise dropped his gaze to ground-level and he saw Andromeda walking towards them, a curious expression on her face, holding a blue-haired baby in her arms. Her eyes were red and puffy, but he knew he could not mention that from the expression on her face. She was not to be messed with.

"Come on in then," she said briskly, the baby in her arms reaching towards Remus.

"Da." The baby waved his small fists, his hair turning yellow – happiness – as he tried to reach who he thought was his father.

Small tears forming in his eyes, Remus looked into Andy's eyes and saw her acceptance, before she handed him the small bundle, who immediately closed his eyes, burrowing into Remus' arms.

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><p><strong>Anyone have any opinions on this chapter? Do you want to murder me in inventive ways for not updating? Have you completely forgotten who I am?<br>**

**Let me know! Or alternatively don't! Completely up to you. I grovel at your feet.  
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**Oreal  
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	8. Chapter 8

**Hello! A more regular update!  
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**Thanks to my friend Jinx123 for her help in brainstorming ideas for this on the way to our Gold DofE Expedition!  
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**And without further ado, on to the chapter! Enjoy!  
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**Oh, and also, I don't own Harry Potter of course :L  
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><p><strong>Chapter 8<strong>

The morning dawned reluctantly, with a smear of gray cloud stretching into the horizon. The inhabitants of Andromeda's house blearily rubbed their sore eyes where they had been straining to remain open all night.

Remus slumbered in a corner, the baby Teddy sleeping in his arms. The child behaved much like the one he remembered from back home, excepting the obvious two year age gap between them. Andy had looked alarmingly stressed he recalled from last night, her hair greyer and her face more lined than he remembered, probably because of the terrible tragedy that had engulfed her family. Remus felt guilty every time he felt her sad eyes rest upon him, knowing that her daughter and son-in-law would never return home.

Lily and James were much livelier, not having a child in their arms, but being very aware of their missing son. They sat on the other side of the room, Lily and Hermione talking mostly while James, Ron, Ginny and the other Harry listened, occasionally interjecting.

"What about the taboo?" Hermione was saying, "If it's still active, we could use it to lure some of the snatchers or Death Eaters into our midst. We could question them, or allow ourselves to be kidnapped?"

Ginny was shaking her head "We don't know it hasn't been lifted, and what's the likelihood that they would come anyway? I mean if I was a death Eater surely it would be obvious that it's a trap..." she snorted, "but they aren't exactly the brightest bunch are they?"

Hermione frowned in thought and disappointment, Ron immediately interjecting, "but I think it's worth a try?" he said, looking at Hermione hopefully, and the other Harry looked at him in amusement.

"I'd try anything around now." Lily's desperate voice broke in; her mind running through the trip she had sprung on the two girls, knowing it was partly her fault that Harry was taken – if there had been more of them...

She was pulled out of her thoughts by her husband's hand on her knee "I think we should try it." James interjected, "I think anything is worth a try."

Ron and Hermione looked towards the other Harry for guidance and following his nod, all three of them pulled out their wands, Harry wielding the elder wand warily.

Sirius kicked Remus alert from across the room, and Andromeda took Teddy out of the room for safety. All of them leapt into action, Ginny rolling off the sofa and onto her feet, her wand already in her hand as they spread out to secure a perimeter.

As soon as they were all situated in a circle, James watched the other Harry grip his wand tighter and say in a solid voice; "Voldemort."

HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP

Harry felt like every bone in his body was on fire, his throat was burning from the intensity of his screaming and his hands trembled.

Suddenly, the pain stopped and his body relaxed on the grass, his green eyes creaking open to the sight of several death munchers crouched over his prone, naked body.

"Why are you doing this?" he whispered, his voice hoarse. "I answered your questions, I told you who I am! I don't know anything about any phoenix order!"

The Death Muncher laughed cruelly, his voice sending shivers through Harry. "A parallel universe?" he mocked, "A different Harry Potter." His cruel hand twisted itself painfully in Harry's hair and he gasped with pain, "Do I _look_ like an idiot to you?"

Harry bit back the retort on the tip of his tongue in fear, shaking his head like a leaf, wishing the death muncher would just leave him alone.

With a groan of frustration, the Death muncher threw Harry's head back to the ground where he shouted in pain as the cruciatus curse was briefly applied before the death muncher shot ropes from the end of his wand with a spell, leaving Harry prone and laying painfully on the floor as he left the vulnerable teenager alone with his thoughts.

HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP

Sirius Black was on high alert. His eyes darted around the room, not resting upon anything for longer than a second. His trained hearing was strained to hear every sound. His wand was gripped tightly but confidently in his strong right hand, raised in front of him just below his chest.

The almost-tableau of tense bodies was maintained for what seemed like a lifetime to the inhabitants, but actually lasted closer to fifteen minutes. The silence was broken by Ron Weasley, who coughed slightly, causing most of the room to jump.

"Uh..." he began eloquently, "I don't think anyone's coming."

One by one, the people in the room began to lower their guard slightly, wands being gripped slightly less tightly, breathing evening out into a more casual rhythm.

"Damn it!" Sirius' exclamation made the other Harry, Hermione and Remus jump and whirl towards him as he fumed. "Now what?" he demanded of the room, "That was our only hope of finding Harry."

The other Harry looked distinctly uncomfortable at this, and ran a hand through his hair stressfully, causing Sirius to be suddenly struck by how similar he actually was to his almost-nephew. Of course, they were different versions of the same person, but the differences were so much more pronounced, and, though their Harry had seemed to mature slightly since their time here, he was constantly reminded of how much _older_ the other Harry seemed to the laid back teenager that was part of his family.

"We'll think of something." The other Harry promised them, "I swear to you, we'll find him." He looked determined and dog-tired, and Sirius found himself wondering when the young adult had last had a proper nights' sleep. "It's my fault he was taken." The other Harry continued, ignoring any protests, "They were obviously after me, and so I promise that I will do anything I can to bring him back to his family... where he belongs."

Sirius watched the other Harry frown at his words, and felt a deep, increasingly familiar, pang of sorrow for the man in front of him. Because he was a man, not a boy like his counterpart who had been taken. Looking into the startling green eyes, Sirius nodded at him solemnly, showing his trust and respect for the man, and how he believed his words.

Andromeda found her way back into the room, baby Teddy (Sirius found the regression of the age of his other almost-nephew quite disturbing) sleeping in her arms, just as a sudden noise made them all jump back into action, their wands jumping into their hands as they turned towards the source of the noise: the hallway which lead to the front door.

Andromeda's face was pale with fear as she sent a _Homenum Revelio _towards the door. "There's only one person there." She informed them, taking a deep breath and drawing herself upright into a form that demanded respect, and Sirius finally saw the Andy he knew and loved shining out of her face.

"Who's there?" she demanded of the front door, her wand held out in front of her defensively.

Their eyes all widened at the reply, a quiet gasp echoing through the room.

In a weak, cracked voice, the figure behind the door said "Draco Malfoy."

The other Harry, Ron and Hermione leapt into action, hissing plans at everyone. "Hide." They said, "We need to find out why he's here." "He was a Death Eater, he might be able to help us." But also warnings, "Be aware, he might be dangerous."

With a final hiss to Andromeda to "find out why he's here", Remus took baby Teddy who was blessedly still asleep, and they all fled the room to listen with bated breath as Andromeda opened the front door.

HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP

Draco stood on the doorstep, his cloak drawn around him to hide his pale, pointed face. His eyes were red from crying – not that he would admit it – but the rest of him was dignified and upright as the door opened in front of him to reveal Andromeda Tonks, his... auntie?

Hurrying inside the house, Draco pushed back his hood to reveal his white blond hair stained with mud and grease, a cut on his cheek which had been previously hidden and a shaky complexion. His arms raised slightly in a position of surrender.

"I know what I have done." He began to an unknowingly large audience, "and I know I cannot redeem myself, and barely have a desire to – I will not hide it – but I can be of some help to you, and I didn't know where else to go."

Andromeda's eyes were narrowed as she took in the sorry sight, gesturing for him to continue his story.

"After the battle, The Death Eaters were not happy with my parents – they blamed my mother for the death of the Dark Lord, as she had pronounced Harry Potter incorrectly dead. We thought we had escaped as we managed to run from the end of the battle, but of course they wouldn't leave us alone.

"They came to our home yesterday, in numbers too large for us to fight – but not too large that I couldn't escape. I watched as my parents fell under the killing curse..." Draco's voice cracked slightly, but he disguised it as a small cough and forced himself to regain his pure-blood dignity before carrying on. "I managed to run to the apperation spot on our grounds, and got away."

Lily found herself biting her lip in sympathy for the young man in front of them, gripping her husband's hand tightly, but not saying anything.

Draco continued his story. "I found myself in the woods we used for the Quiddich world cup. I don't know why, but it was the first place that came into my head. I stayed there for a while, wondering where I could go, before remembering you... You are practically my only living relative left, and I know you have all the rights to hate me, but you have to be reasonable. I can help you. If I went to the ministry, I would be immediately locked up, I know that, and I have no intention of having that happen to me. But I know all the Death Eater hideouts. I know many names of guilty persons. You can _use_ me. Please, don't send me to Azkaban."

Andromeda watched Draco warily for a moment before nodding slightly, her wand lowering from where it was pointing at Draco's chest.

"Give me your wand." She commanded him, and after a moment, he surrendered it to her, and she pocketed it.

"You can come out now." She called out, and Draco paled even more as he watched Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny appear in the hallway. But this reaction was nothing to when he saw Lily and James, Remus and Sirius appear slightly behind them. For once, the pure-blood's dignity was shattered as he gaped, open-mouthed at them.

"But you're all dead!" he exclaimed, pointing at them, "You've been dead for years!" Sirius smirked slightly and leant against the doorframe, saying nothing, just smirking at the confused boy.

It was Lily who took pity on him and explained the situation. "We're from a parallel universe. You said you knew the Death Eater hideouts? Our Harry has been taken by some of them, we need to get him back. Will you help us?"

Draco looked at her imploringly for a moment, before his eyes blazed, "I recon that would piss them off nicely." He agreed.

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><p><strong>I hope no-one was too badly out of character? I worry about that...<strong>

**Review? O.O  
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**Thanks for reading! Sorry it's so short :/  
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**Oreal  
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	9. Chapter 9

**Hello! It's me! Sorry about the delayed update (again) but I was abroad and didn't have access to my laptop.  
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**Anyway, I have a new chapter for you!  
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**Oh and, to my friend FallenStar22, I give you the charge to bug me about updating (like you did today) to achieve speedier updates!  
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**Thanks all, and I hope you enjoy :)  
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><p><strong>Chapter 9<strong>

Lily Potter sat, her legs curled underneath her as she listened to the other people in the room planning.

"It's most likely they'll have taken him to _here_." Draco was pointing at a map Andromeda had managed to dig out of a chest of drawers. The area shown appeared to be a clearing in a wood, with a small building in the corner, which Draco identified as a barn. "The aurors won't be looking for them there, it's an old place where there was originally a colony of werewolves, led by Greyback when the Death Eaters got there. They took all the werewolves into their ranks. It's unlikely any of them survived."

Lily looked sideways to Remus at this comment, who appeared slightly green at this piece of information, but she saw him grit his teeth and nod determinedly.

"Why has he been taken?" James' voice sounded more vulnerable than she was used to as he asked this question.

Draco looked at him and scoffed.

"Why do you think?" he said sarcastically. "It's because they thought he was _him_." He said slowly, as if he was talking to an idiot, and pointing at the other Harry.

"But they'd already lost!" Exclaimed Sirius, "why would they risk something like that?"

Draco rolled his eyes. "_Because they lost_, of course. Potter has taken everything away from them, they have no choice but to be hunted like wolves, to flee for their lives! Of course they want revenge!"

"But... he'll be alright?" Lily input into the conversation, her voice shaky and worried.

Draco looked at her pityingly. "I don't know." He said, "They might have tortured him for information if you're lucky. It depends who's taken him. Their plans might be bigger: take down the order of the phoenix, get information... Or they might not. They might just want revenge on Potter. He might not be alive."

Lily's head dropped into her hands as she cried.

HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP

Harry woke up blearily to find he was alone in the clearing. Night had fallen and he shuddered as he drew his aching, shivering limbs closer to his body. Sweat stood out on his forehead, and his hair was matted. His dignity was retained slightly by the coating of mud over his body.

_Please. _He prayed silently to the skies above him. _I swear, I'll do anything. I'll be a better person, I promise, I'll never play another hurtful prank, I'll never make fun of anyone. I swear, if I get out of here alive, and if I ever get back home, I'll do everything I can to deserve what I have. I'll do anything! Just please... I don't know how much more of this I can take!_

HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP

"We need all the help we can get." The other Harry was saying as they began to finalise their plan, "we don't know how many of them there will be, and we can't let any of them escape."

Ron agreed with him, "We should contact what's left of the order. If they know how to find the other Death Eater hideouts, they'll definitely help us. They want them all gone as much as we do."

Ginny stepped forwards, "I'll contact Mum." She said, "And Bill and Fleur. This war isn't quite over yet. There are some loose ends to tie up."

Borrowing some of Andromeda's floo powder, Ginny stepped into the fireplace, confidently calling out "The Burrow!" and disappeared in a whirlwind of green flame.

The other Harry stepped forwards next. "I'll go to the Ministry, I'll talk to Kingsley about what he can do to help." And he followed Ginny through the flames.

Hermione was the next to speak up. "I'll go to Hogwarts –" she began, but Ron grabbed her hand and said stubbornly, "Not without me, you won't."

Hermione smiled slightly at his antics, and one-by-one, they stepped into the fireplace, dropping a handful of floo powder and calling out "Hogwarts!"

HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP

In a flash of flame, Ginny stumbled out of the fireplace in The Burrow, and looked around. The room was, unsurprisingly, empty.

"Mum?" she called up the stairs, going to have a look at the clock in the kitchen.

Pointing at the position for 'home' were the names Ginny, Molly, Arthur, George, Percy, Bill and Charlie. She assumed that meant Fleur would be here too. As she watched, Ron's hand moved towards school, and she nodded to herself slightly at the idea.

Her eyes became quickly fixed on the ninth hand, bearing the name _Fred_, and pointing resolutely at 'lost'. A lump formed in her throat, and she was suddenly aware that she had not mourned for her lost brother, and did not know when the time would come that she would be able to.

"Ginny?" At the sound of a voice, Ginny immediately jumped and leapt around. Before she had turned fully around, however, she was engulfed by her mother's arms, and she gladly clung back.

"Hi Mum." She whispered, "I'm sorry I haven't been here."

"That's okay, dear. You're here now. Where's Ron?"

Ginny suddenly remembered her mission, and pulled away from her mother. "I'm sorry Mum, but I need your help..." she paused, frowning.

"What is it?" Molly asked, steering her towards the living room, where she sat down.

"Uh... It's a bit of a long story..."

"Ronald?" Molly asked immediately, looking towards the clock anxiously.

"He's fine." Ginny assured her.

Molly sighed in relief. "What's the story then?" she asked kindly, looking wearily at Ginny, but smiling slightly.

"Well..."

HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP HP

**Canon!Harry's POV (so 'Harry' means Canon!Harry in this section)**

With a cough, Harry stumbled out of the flames and only just managed to remain on his feet. Straightening up, he found several people pointing their wands at him with dangerous expressions on their faces.

Raising his hands in a surrendering position, he looked at them carefully. "Relax!" he said, "Just me!"

One by one, the wands were lowered, and several people made forwards to wring Harry's hand gratefully.

"Uh... thanks." Harry stammered awkwardly, "can anyone tell me where I can find the minister?"

A booming voice came over the crowd and Harry looked up to see Kingsley Shacklebolt, minister for magic, striding towards him.

"Harry!" he greeted, shaking his hand. "What can I do for you?"

Harry paused, looking around. "...It's kind of complicated." He said slowly, wondering how he would present this information.

"Start at the beginning and we'll go from there." Kingsley suggested as they walked away from the fireplace together.

"Well, it started the night of the final battle..."

HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP 

Hermione strode confidently out of the fireplace in an empty chamber, Ron quickly falling out behind her and scrambling to his feet, with a mutter of "I was never very good at that."

Hermione hid a grin at his antics as he ran to catch up with her.

"Where did we come out?" he wondered aloud, looking around as they went out into the corridor.

"The charms corridor, I think." Hermione replied, "I think we should make our way towards the Great Hall."

With a nod, Ron strode off towards the staircase, Hermione rolling her eyes and following him.

As they made their way downstairs, a great deal of noise seemed to be coming up from the Great Hall, showing them that they were correct in choosing that destination.

Taking their wands out as a precautionary, Ron and Hermione walked into the Great Hall to find several teachers, and a handful of old students about their age standing around, levitating objects and casting '_reparo'_s. Their work appeared to be slow going.

"Ron! Hermione!" a familiar voice called out, and the couple looked up to see Luna and Neville making their way towards them, hand in hand.

Luna pulled Hermione into a hug as they met and Hermione gratefully returned it.

"What are you two doing here?" Asked Neville, who Hermione noticed looked much better than he had the last time they had seen him. He had obviously been to a healer, who had taken care of his bruises and scrapes efficiently.

"We need your help." Hermione told him, as several teachers including Flitwick and McGonagall made their way over to listen.

"It's kind of a long story." Ron told them awkwardly.

"Is it to do with the people from the parallel universe who appeared at the end of the final battle?" asked Luna in her dreamy voice, causing Ron and Hermione to gape at her.

"Uh... yes, actually." Hermione said, "The parallel Harry has been taken by Death Eaters, thinking he was the real Harry..."

HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP HP

Sirius was pacing.

It was very annoying, Remus decided, as every time he reached the end of the room, he would glance at the fireplace, huff, turn around and begin again. It was made even more annoying because it had been going on for almost half an hour now, and the huffing seemed to get louder on every turn.

_Huff!_

"Padfoot!" James finally snapped, and Sirius suddenly stopped, as if startled and turned to face him, eyes wide.

"What is it Prongs?" he asked his friend innocently.

"Shut up." James told him matter-of-factly and Sirius nodded and promptly shut up.

Suddenly, the fireplace burst into life, and everyone in the room jumped to their feet, baby Teddy in Andromeda's arms waking up and beginning to cry.

Ron stumbled out of the fireplace, and quickly moved out of the way as it began to flare again, and again...

Hermione stumbled out after him, and quickly followed his example as a large number of people began to come through.

Luna.

Neville.

Seamus.

Professor McGonagall.

Professor Flitwick.

Madame Pomfrey.

The other Harry.

Hestia.

Reg Cattermole and his wife, Mary (who both nodded to a bewildered Ron as they entered).

Kingsley Shacklebolt.

Ginny.

Molly.

Arthur.

A very weary looking George.

Bill.

Fleur.

Charlie.

Sirius gaped at the number of people suddenly in the room (which had become very crowded).

"I think we should move somewhere bigger!" The other Harry tried to make his voice heard over the crowd, trying to catch Andromeda's eye.

"Yes of course." She agreed, "Everybody follow me!"

They made their way into the garden, where the other Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Kingsley went to stand at a table, and the other twenty-two people formed a crowd in front of them.

"Wait a second!" George's voice, cracked from disuse, rose over the crowd. "What is _he_ doing here?" he demanded, pointing at Draco, who cowered slightly from the number of glares he was suddenly receiving. George tried to battle his way towards him, but Bill and Charlie grabbed an arm each and held him back.

"Draco Malfoy is our ally!" The other Harry shouted over the crowd. "He has come to us to give away the Death Eater hideouts. It is only due to him that we can act at all!"

George protested, "But he's a slytherin, and a Death Eater at that! We can't trust him!"

Draco stood forwards, his back straight and determined. "The Death Eaters killed my family." He announced, unembarrassed, "I would like nothing more than to see them suffer."

At that, George fell limp in Bill and Charlie's arms, sagging slightly as he tried to regain his feet.

"Does anyone else have a problem?" Draco shouted over the crowd, but was greeted by silence. "Good."

The other Harry cleared his throat. "As I was saying, we have intelligence from Draco where the Death Eaters may have taken my parallel self, and the position of other Death Eater hideaways. We need your help to find these places and eradicate the Death Eaters. The people remaining in these hideaways are obviously still loyal to Voldemort." He paused as a rippled shudder went through the crowd at the sound of the name, to the surprise of the visitors from the parallel universe. "They will go to Azkaban."

A roar of agreement ripped through the air, and Sirius watched in amazement as the other Harry began to direct his troops.

"We need a group of you to come with us, to the place we think they have taken Harry, but we need most of you to divide up and go to other places Draco has indicated, and clear out the threat there. The faster we can get this done, the faster this war is over for good!"

Another roar of agreement went through the crowd as Hermione began to walk through them, splitting them into groups.

HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP

Remus stood with the group of people going to rescue Harry, finally feeling like he was achieving something. He looked over to Sirius' set expression next to him, and to James and Lily's joined hands, then to the rest of the group going with them.

The other Harry was there, of course, along with Ron and Hermione, and Ginny, who claimed she wasn't going to let her boyfriend out of her sight ever again. They also had Luna and Neville, McGonagall and Arthur Weasley.

They were ready to go.

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><p><strong>What do you think? Am I mean to leave a sort-of cliffhanger?<br>**

**Anything you want to suggest, I try to meet all your wants (like bringing in Neville and Luna), and it helps to enhance my writing and include more in the chapters.  
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**Thanks for reading!  
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**Oreal  
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	10. Chapter 10

**Hi :/  
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**Uh yeah, I know. These last few weeks have just disappeared, all my friends are turning 18 and I'm getting loads of work at A2 and I'm a professional procrastinator so... yeah. Will try and get the next chapter up sooner. Sorry.  
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**Anyway, fight scene (don't think it's very good, I've never really written one before) so I hope you enjoy (even if it is really short, but I kinda had to stop it there, you'll see what I mean)  
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**Enjoy!  
><strong>

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><p><strong>Chapter 10<strong>

Harry Potter's breath stuttered in his chest as he looked blearily up at the Death Muncher standing over him. The look of anger on his face sent horror rippling through Harry's body as he tried to remember how to understand the words they were saying to him.

_Regret_ was one of them. _Lies_ was another. _Death_ made his whole body shudder, but for some reason he couldn't remember why.

Was this what it was like to lose your mind?

Harry felt pushed to try to remember a time where he hadn't been lying naked, tied in coarse ropes which had rubbed his wrists raw, on an uncomfortable bed of sticks and mud.

When he strained, he remembered red hair and green eyes, accompanied by a large feeling in his chest. He didn't know why it hurt to remember this.

Another memory, this time of round glasses and a smile, and a feeling of being protected. He knew this feeling was wrong – he would never be safe again.

The memories hurt, so much... So Harry closed his eyes against the _crucio_, forgetting how to scream, and gave in to the familiar blackness...

HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP

James Potter pushed his round glasses further up his nose, his smile non-existent. He looked around at the determined faces of his companions, as they listened to his son's impostor.

How _dare_ he look so comfortable in a place his son never would... How _dare_ he look so much like him that he sometimes forgot that he wasn't. How _dare_ he stand there while his son was being tortured – maybe even killed.

James Potter could not look the other Harry in the eye, but stared at the floor as they were informed of the plan – Step 1: Apparate into the clearing; a complete image of which would be given to them by Draco Malfoy in a pensieve. Step 2: Find Harry, and get him out of there (this would be Lily's job). Step 3: Capture the Death Eaters present.

_Simple enough_, James thought, _but what if it isn't? What if Harry isn't there? What if he's- _He couldn't even bring himself to think of the possibility of his son's death. _And if it is so bloody simple, why haven't we done it yet?!_

Scowling, he gripped his wand tighter, and waited impatiently to act.

HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP

Nott kicked the unresponsive body of the Potter boy, a deep scowl on his face. He was sick of not receiving any answers except ridiculous lies about alternative universes from the brat. The boy's scar had not returned, even after he had scrubbed at his forehead with a stick. Why wouldn't Potter just _tell the truth?!_

He needed veritaserum.

Conjouring a patronus, he sent a message to another Death Eater hideaway, where Snape had stayed for a while. They probably had some of the truth serum.

_I have Potter. He has no scar, and is telling me nothing but lies. Need some veritaserum to make him tell the truth. Nott._

His message was received quickly by another hideaway, by a large group of approximately fifteen of the remaining Death Eaters.

"Nott has the Potter boy?" one of the Death Eaters hissed. "That useless pile of mould managed to capture the Potter boy? I don't believe it. I have to see this."

With a scornful snort, the man disapperated, quickly followed by the remaining Death Eaters in the hideaway, who wouldn't let them have all the fun...

HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP

"_Finally!" _James Potter breathed, twisting his body as several others around him did the same, disappearing into the void and reappearing quickly in an irritatingly familiar circle of trees – The other Harry had made them rewatch the memory seven times to make sure the place was firmly in their minds. As if they could forget somewhere which felt so evil, even just in a memory.

Looking around, he noticed the hut from the memory, pulling out his wand as he saw someone come out of it...

_Pop_

_Pop_

_Pop_

Suddenly, they were surrounded. There were Death Eaters everywhere, all around them. Many appeared suddenly in the clearing as if they had been informed of their arrival, or had been anticipating them. Another load of them began running out of the hut, bringing their numbers up further until they were easily outnumbered, twelve of them to at least twenty of the enemy.

And James spied at the edge of the clearing, a small curled up body, whose hair was all over the place, and whose wrists were tied together. And who didn't seem to be moving, had not noticed their sudden appearance...

A jolt of terror ran through him at the sight, and the thought that accompanied it. He took a step forward and was suddenly surrounded by fighting – apparently the Death Eaters and the 'order' had noticed each other. James could not take another step towards his son, but was forced to turn his back on the prone figure and block a nasty spell aiming for him.

The battle was brutal.

Time almost seemed to slow as they fought in the dim light of the woods. The flashes of spells seemed to glow even brighter, embedding themselves onto the fighter's irises as they fought for their lives.

Flashes of green light began to join the fray and the fighters ducked and dodged them, their adrenaline spiking as they realised the extremity of the situation.

Harry's prone figure began to stir, his eyes fluttering as he took in the sounds of fighting around him.

He cracked his eyes open, and was instantly wide awake. He saw red hair and green eyes, ducking as a green light flashed over her head, whirling around and sending a red stunner, causing her attacker to drop to the floor. His heart froze in his chest and he _remembered_.

"Mum." His voice was cracked and almost silent, but it was there. Prone as he was, he could only lie there and watch the fighting.

Neville bore no resemblance to the Neville he knew, his jaw clenched, his fighting skills better than he could ever have expected, the strange Ravenclaw girl he remembered calling 'loony loon' by his side.

But the one who drew the attention most from the group had to be his doppelganger – the other Harry.

Barking out orders left, right and centre, the other Harry span in the middle of battle, his wand firing out spells faster than he could think. Death Munchers fell like flies around him, and at one point, he was battling three of them at once (Hermione taking one of them down while he took care of the other two). It was surreal, but Harry saw what was real in the situation.

The other Harry was a soldier.

A war-hardened hero, who had been fighting battles since he could talk – his home life from a young age had been terrible, and it had only escalated as he joined Hogwarts.

And this is what it all came down to; a young man, still a teenager, the same age as he was, in fact... the leader of a war? And at what price?

As Harry lay there, knowing he would probably be having nightmares about his kidnap for a long time to come, he knew that he might heal.

He knew the other Harry could not.

He remembered walking through the battlefield when they had first arrived in this reality, the bodies strewn all around him, the sobs of tormented family members surrounding him. He remembered learning of Fred's death, and his heart broke for the George of this world. He remembered seeing Moony and Tonks lain next to each other, their hands almost touching, their son left to the other Harry's care.

He knew these scars could not heal.

You could not spend your childhood learning to be a hero without leaving something behind, and the other Harry did not have a proper childhood in his memory. He would wake, in the future, from nightmares from Dementors to Voldemort and from being abused by the Dursleys.

And Harry knew, as he watched the other Harry ducking green lights, his eyes flashing, as he threw a spell to defend who could have been his mother, he knew that even though they were parallels, they could not be alike. The other Harry was too damaged, and he too spoiled to achieve anything like that.

And suddenly, Harry was surrounded by screams and it seemed like someone had turned the volume up because he could hear everything amplified, the shouts of the death munchers, the screams of his saviours as the battle boiled to a close.

Wrapped in his father's familiar arms, feeling himself being hoisted off the ground, his mother stroking his hair, Harry looked back as they disapperated, just in time to see the flash of green and the scream as one of his saviours fell at last, never to breathe again...

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><p><strong>So?<br>**

**Any comments? Any of you going to kill me? XD  
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**Reviews are love!  
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**Oreal  
><strong>


	11. Chapter 11

**Hi! I know, don't faint or anything, I'm actually updating within a week... I think...!  
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**Yeah, lots of angst here, don't like, I'm the wrong author for you (I try happy and angst happens, I don't even...)  
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**Gah! Why are my chapters getting shorter?! :(  
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**Oh and me and my friends made a film. It's hilariously bad (it's not too bad). Happy James Bond day!  
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**Have a chapter!  
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><p><strong>Chapter 11<strong>

"_Tell the truth!"_

_The man's voice was deep and horrifying, his eyes glowing a deep red colour, his face distorted into that of a monster. Harry twisted to try and escape, but the bonds around his wrists tightened, until he could no longer feel his fingers._

_Straining, he twisted frantically, blood beginning to pour from the wounds on his wrists as the man above him grew and grew until Harry was but an ant at his feet._

_The man gave a deep, chilling laugh, which terrified the tiny Harry as the bonds appeared to saw completely through his wrists._

_The man raised his foot, and Harry knew this was the end, he was going to be killed..._

"Harry!"

Harry's eyes snapped open, his wrists twisting over each other, his eyes frantic.

"What-?" he croaked, his voice hoarse from lack of use.

He saw his parents looking kindly down on him, his mother's hand in his hair, his father hovering just slightly further back, looking extremely awkward.

"It's okay, sweetie." His mother's calming voice was saying, "You're safe now."

Looking around, Harry saw they were out of the woods, and he appeared to have been washed and clothed. He finally allowed himself to relax slightly, but his hands still twisted over each other over and over again.

_Crack!_

Harry flinched at the sound, but he had little time to register the person standing in front of him as his doppelganger, until another crack sounded, and the noise shouting suddenly filled the air.

"How can this have happened?"

Harry was shocked to see Neville being the owner of the voice.

"We were winning! We'd practically won!"

"Neville..." Harry's doppelganger looked dog-tired, and Harry suddenly remembered why.

_Looking back over his shoulder, Harry had seen a flash of green light and a yell, and had realised someone had died, just as the world disappeared around him._

That must have been when he'd passed out.

Neville rounded on Harry... No wait, it wasn't _him_ the glare was fixed at, Neville's stony gaze appeared to be fixed upon his parents.

Why would he be upset at them?

"It's your fault!" Neville growled, his wand gripped tightly in his hand, his knuckles turning white in his anger. "If you'd waited. If you'd stayed just a couple more minutes..."

His voice broke, and his hands began to shake.

"You're selfish." Neville's voice had turned into a whisper.

"I saw how you treated Harry before we left. _Our_ Harry, I mean." He continued bitterly, his glare briefly turning upon the wounded Harry lain down before him.

"You were vile." Neville spat, and Harry saw his father recoil slightly from the hate in his voice. "You only cared about one thing, finding _him_." He pointed at Harry, "But you didn't stop to think there might be consequences? You didn't care who you hurt on the way."

"I saw the way you looked at him yesterday." He continued at James, "I could tell what you were thinking, I could tell you wished our Harry was in the place of yours. Never mind what he's been through, never mind how desperately he was trying to help you. _We all were._ But you didn't care, caught in your own world. You don't belong here.

"I wish you'd never come, and _don't you dare _try and agree with me." Neville's voice rose in a crescendo as James tried to interrupt him. "You got your son back. Your son who is a spoiled brat, who no doubt thinks the same as you, would have left anyone else there in his place. But you know what, you don't get to choose who gets to experience hell. You don't get to choose who dies.

Otherwise, I would gladly have taken Luna's place."

And with his breath catching in his throat, his watery eyes filled with pain and anger and hatred, Neville turned from the room and fled.

The last Harry saw of him was his hunched back, his hands working their way into his hair, and the sound of a tiny sob escaping him.

HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP

For several moments, the room rang with the echoes of Neville's emotion, Harry realising everyone else must have apparated in during Neville's rant.

"Is it true?"

Harry's voice was quiet and croaky in the silent room, but everyone seemed to jump anyway. He was looking at his parents, his voice sad.

"Did you really – did you wish he was in my place?" Harry gestured towards his doppelganger.

If the silence wasn't confirmation enough, Harry's father was unable to look him in the eye, and Lily's green eyes began to water.

She reached out towards him, but Harry recoiled from her.

"He would have died out there." His voice was a whisper. "And I would never wish that on anyone. Not that hell, and especially not after... You remember what they told us?"

James and Lily's heads bowed as one as they were reprimanded by their son.

"It was not your choice to make. He never had parents to be proud of him, to love him, and now you've killed any chance he had."

Exhausted, Harry sank back into a chair, his hands worming into his hair.

It was Lily who spoke first.

"Luna?" her voice was quietly horrified. "Is she-?"

The other Harry's nod was enough.

"And... if we'd stayed?"

She did not wait for an answer, but sank, horrified to the floor, head shaking in disbelief. "I thought... I thought we'd won. I thought it was safe."

The other Harry stepped forwards, pain in his eyes, but his voice was calm.

"You are lucky." He said quietly, "You know very little of war and what it is like to live in. You were not to know the rules of battle, that it is never over. You are not to blame."

His hand rested carefully upon Lily's bowed head.

"I forgive you."

HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP

Later that day, after everyone had rested, save those unable, Hermione was approached by someone else.

Remus walked slowly up to her, and touched her carefully on the shoulder.

Jumping, Hermione was on her feet, her wand in her hand before Remus could even react.

"Sorry!" he jumped back, his hands in the air. "I didn't mean to startle you."

"No, no, I'm sorry." Hermione returned, "I should have known there was no threat here. What did you want?"

Remus sat down in front of her carefully.

"We don't belong here." He began, "I mean in this reality. We've caused more than enough trouble just being here."

Hermione's gaze briefly stopped on the other Harry sat dejectedly on the other side of the room.

"You want to go home." She said, "It's understandable. And to tell the truth, I must agree with you. It's been nice meeting you all, but..."

Remus nodded in agreement. "You are all very strong people, but you deserve to be allowed to be weak for a while, I think. You cannot do that whilst we are here."

Hermione leant forwards in her chair, "I think we first need to address how exactly you managed to get here in the first place...

Remus grinned lopsidedly for a second. "Well, it was Sirius' fault, really." He began...

HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP

**This section is in the POV of Canon!Harry**

Harry's heart felt heavy as he sat on his own, curled up in an armchair, his gaze fixed upon a spot on the adjacent wall where some of the wallpaper had peeled away.

He sighed.

"You look like you're deep in thought."

Ginny's familiar voice came from behind him, and Harry found himself smiling slightly, even though a minute before, he could not imagine ever smiling again.

Turning around, Harry took in the sight of his girlfriend, eyes twinkling, though he could see the sadness hidden just out of sight – Luna had been a good friend to them all, but to her especially.

Her arms were filled with a baby Teddy, his hair jet black as he seemed to have recognised the mood the inhabitants were in. Gurgling happily in Ginny's arms, he reached out a hand and caught some of Harry's hair in his fist.

"Ow, Teddy, no!" Harry cried in surprise, his eyes watering as the baby began to tug at his hair.

Through her laughter, Ginny seemed able to distract the child with a toy, for which he immediately let go of Harry's hair.

Holding Teddy close to her, Ginny walked round the sofa to sit down next to Harry, at which point Teddy apparently decided Harry looked far too miserable and with a happy sound, he flopped his way onto Harry's lap, looking up at him with his big blue eyes, his gummy mouth attempting a smile.

"Hey kiddo." Harry reached down and ruffled the child's hair, who gurgled happily and promptly fell asleep in his lap. Amused, Harry looked across at Ginny, who was watching the two of them happily, and reached her hand out to slot it into his, and they clung to each other for comfort.

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><p><strong>So?<strong>

**Too much angst?  
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**I'm sorry, I love Luna, but I definitely couldn't kill Neville, or any of the trio so unfortunately...  
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**Hope you enjoyed it - using enjoyed as a loose term here... hope you liked it?... no... hope you thought my writing was passable, and not riddles with errors? Yeah, that works :)  
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**Only 2 more chapters!  
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**Oreal  
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	12. Chapter 12

**Uh hi. How's it going? Remember me? **

**Let me trigger your memories. Back in the Dark Ages, when I last updated, we had just rescued Harry from the Alternative Universe ****from the Death Eaters. A heartbroken Neville (From Luna's death D:) confronted Lily and James about how they had been treating Canon!Harry which AU!Harry was missing.**

**And that is where I left you... If you are still with me, I applaud you, and I thank you deeply for being so patient with my laziness. There is only one more chapter to go, and so I will try to get that one up before next week.**

**Enjoy.**

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><p><strong>Chapter 12<strong>

As James entered their bedroom, he found Lily sat on the floor in the corner of the room, her arms hugging her legs to her as she stared blankly out into the room. His heart wrenching at the sight, James made his way over to her, sliding down the wall next to her, his eyes worried.

"Remember… remember that night, it seems so long ago now, when we promised to each other we'd make the other Harry feel loved?" Lily's voice was tired and croaky when she finally spoke, and James bowed his head in acknowledgement.

"We failed, James. We were too selfish, too caught up in everything that was happening… We failed him." Lily's gaze rose skywards, "Out there somewhere, there's another Lily and James who hate us for how we treated their son."

"Our son was missing, we-" James tried to comfort her, but he knew as well as she did that his words were empty.

"No, James." Lily reprimanded him softly, "We had no right to treat him so negatively."

And James could not disagree with that.

HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP

Downstairs, in the darkened living room, two bowed heads leant over a piece of parchment, the scratching of the quill seeming strangely loud in the quiet room.

"Are you sure that's how it happened?" Hermione asked Remus, who read over the parchment once more, anxiously biting his lip as he tried to think of anything he may have missed.

"I think that's everything. There was Harry's Patronus, the stew and the Wolfsbane Potion. I remember being confused because the patronus was covered in stew and potion, and I thought they weren't supposed to be solid."

Hermione frowned at that. "I don't know what could cause that, but it seems obvious that the Patronus was involved somehow. And when you appeared in this reality, was it in the same place?"

"My office, yes." Remus confirmed. "I suppose we'll have to go back there to get back."

A sudden thought hit him and Remus' eyes widened in alarm. "How long have we been here? Are we all missing in our world? It was the same date when we arrived, so does that mean the two worlds are running parallel to each other? That means Harry will have missed his exams!"

Hermione looked incredibly worried at that prospect. "I suppose you'll have to explain it to Dumbledore, I'm sure he'll be let off, and hopefully given time to revise before taking them… if that's still possible…" Hermione looked bewildered at the idea.

"We'll have to cross that bridge when we come to it." Remus appeased, "we need to get back there first!"

"Right, of course!" Hermione startled back into action. "Well I think your best bet would just be to try the same thing again and hope it wasn't a special date or the walls between the worlds were especially thin or something."

Remus blanched at that. "One step at a time…" he said slowly.

HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP

Ginny stood outside Neville's door, her head resting on the wood as she listened to his torment. She had been shocked to realise he and Luna had become a couple, but it had seemed so perfect…

_Poor, poor Neville_ Ginny thought as she gently pushed the door open, to see him curled up on the bed with his back to the door, visibly shaking with grief.

_Imagine if something had happened to Harry. _Ginny did not have to, she remembered with startling vividness the feeling that someone had ripped her heart from her chest when she saw Harry's lifeless body resting in Hagrid's arms. She knew how Neville felt right now, and her heart broke for him.

Ginny quietly approached the bed, and saw Neville's head twitch as if he heard her approach, but didn't care enough to do anything about it.

Her eyes filling with tears for all she had lost, Ginny sat on the bed next to Neville, and began to rub her hand in gentle circles on his shoulder, letting him know she was there, but not disturbing him. After all, Luna had been her best friend. So Ginny sat there with Neville for the rest of the night, both of them mourning the loss of the best of friends.

HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP

_Harry strutted down the corridor, brushing his hair back with a swipe of his hand to make it stand on end, a cool smirk on his face. He could see the respect shining in people's eyes, the attraction from the girls, the admiration from the boys… Everything was right, but something felt wrong._

_Rounding a corridor, Harry walked straight into a girl, whose books tumbled to the floor with a loud rumble. Stepping quickly out of the way of the sudden attack, Harry raised an eyebrow as he recognised the girl's bushy hair._

"_Watch it Granger!" he said confidently, grinning at her horror as she scrambled to ensure her books were not harmed. "I imagine you can't see where you're going too well, that bushy hair of yours." Harry's face wore a smug grin as he gently mocked her._

"_Leave me alone, Potter." Granger's voice was timid and shy, and she did not look at him when she spoke those words._

"_Whoa!" Harry stumbled backwards, clutching at his chest, "Has Granger grown a voice? Is she finally living up to the vicious mane of hair around her face? Has the mouse become a lion?"_

_Students began to stop and watch as Harry dramatically spoke these words, a mocking grin on his face, but Hermione said nothing more, just collected up her books, her face red with embarrassment._

"_I guess not." Harry concluded, "Ah, pity. See you around, Granger." And with that, Harry ruffled her hair, ignoring her surprised squawk and jump backwards, and strode off, trading a high-five with Dean as he passed him. Granger was always fun to torment._

_Why did that make his chest feel tight? _

_The corridor dissolved around him, and Harry found himself outside on the grounds, his friends surrounding him; Ron, Dean, Seamus. They were walking towards a lone figure underneath a tree, a small, dumpy boy, his forehead creased as he tried to absorb the information in the book before him. Harry could see his lips moving, repeating the information._

No, don't do this!_ Something urged him, but Harry stepped forwards anyway, the boy looking up at him fearfully._

"_Hey Neville." Harry flopped himself into the grass next to him, and Dean, Seamus and Ron did the same, broad grins on their faces. Neville looked at them all warily, his hands gripping the textbook noticeably harder. _

"_Hi Harry." He said warily, his eyes darting towards Ron, Seamus and Dean worriedly._

"_We were just wondering how you'd get up that tree." Neville paled a little and looked up at the tree behind his back._

"_I uh… imagine you'd climb it?" Neville stammered out, his eyes looking for a way out._

"_Nah, I think this way's much more fun!"_

_And with a flick of Harry's wand, Neville was dangling amongst the lower branches of the tree from his ankle, his book, reading transfiguration on the cover, on the grass beneath him._

"_Ah don't feel bad, Nev Nev!" Neville visibly flinched at the nickname, "It's just a game! See you later!"_

_And Harry left Neville dangling by his ankle by the tree, until Hermione came out to find him when he wasn't seen at dinner._

Harry awoke slowly, his forehead creased in a frown as his dream remained vivid in his mind. Suddenly, he could see.

To Granger and Neville in his world, Harry was like the Death Munchers from this one. He had tortured them both, and they had been as hurt as he had been in their hands, if in a different way.

"I cannot be like them." Harry swore aloud to the room, his hands shaking, his wrists habitually sliding over each other. His face was haunted as hundreds of similar memories wormed their way into his consciousness.

"I will make it up to them, I swear."

Harry's guilt increased as he made his way downstairs and saw Hermione in the living room, her bushy hair all over her face as she slept on the sofa. His eyes rose to the figure sat on the floor next to her. Harry could never remember seeing Ron's face as content as this one was when he looked at Hermione.

And Harry was sorry for depriving his Ron from that kind of happiness.

Hermione startled awake as Remus, James, Lily and Sirius made their way into the room, talking animatedly. Harry watched as Ron was immediately before her, a gentle look on his face as he greeted her "Good Morning."

"Is it time?" Hermione's voice was groggy, but immediately alert as she looked across to Remus.

"I think we should do it today." He agreed. Harry frowned in confusion, but the other Harry entered the room and asked the question before he could.

"Do what?" The other Harry held a sleeping Teddy in his arms, gently cradling the baby's head and looking very natural at it. Harry saw his parents' gazes avert as he entered.

"Attempt a return journey." Hermione informed him, climbing off the sofa and yawning widely. "Remus and I talked it over last night, we're going to try a repeat performance of what happened last time."

The other Harry looked pleased at this and nodded at Hermione. "I think it's best we do this as quickly as possible." He agreed, "The Death Eaters are being rounded up as we speak, the mission was a success, despite the… terrible loss we all suffered." They all bowed their heads for Luna. "I think we need to get this world back to normal."

Harry fully agreed with his double, they did not belong in this world, and enough people had suffered because of their presence in it.

"What type of stew was it?" Hermione asked suddenly, and Remus' eyes widened.

"The house-elves made it." He said, "I don't know what was in it."

"Then we shall have to ask the house-elves to make another one." Hermione said calmly. "Wolfsbane should not be too hard to come by, I think Remus still had a full cauldron back at his place, the full moon was coming up but it was not soon enough to drink the potion."

Remus' eyes widened "When is the full moon?" he asked frantically, "I completely forgot! How can I have forgotten?!"

Hermione gasped, "I think it's tonight!" she said worriedly, checking her watch uselessly. "I thought you could feel it!"

"I can, usually. I've just been so caught up in Harry going missing, I must have missed the symptoms!"

"We had better get you back home as soon as possible then." Sirius spoke this time, patting Remus on the shoulder.

HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP

A few hours later saw Harry, Lily, James, Sirius and Remus stood in the Defense-Against-The-Dark-Arts classroom. The room was very different to when they last stood in it, the walls were bare, and all the dark artefacts had been removed.

Lily was the first to move forwards, bringing the other Harry into a hug, which he accepted whole-heartedly. "I'm sorry I was so terrible to you, Harry. I'm so, so sorry."

"You were worried about your son. Don't blame yourself for being human." The other Harry smiled brightly at her, and suddenly everyone was hugging everyone, and thankyous were traded around.

Remus smiled warmly at Hermione as they hugged, "It was a pleasure working with you, Hermione. I was very honoured, and I'm sure the other me was as well."

Hermione grinned back, "Look after Tonks, and Teddy. Don't forget how lucky you all are."

"Never." Remus swore.

And suddenly the five travellers were alone in the classroom, Harry stood in the centre of the room, his wand out in front of him. Sirius stood poised with the bowl of stew and Remus held the wolfsbane potion.

"_Expecto Patronum!"_ Harry cried out and suddenly, a white stag stood before them all, looking around as if curious. Sirius and Remus simultaneously threw the two dishes at the stag, who was suddenly drenched, bewildered.

The two dishes exploded where they hit, covering the inhabitants in the same solution covering the stag and with a pop, the five of them vanished. Their skin burned, and every particle in their bodies felt like they were being pulled in a different direction.

Flashes of colour spiralled past, blinding them, stunning them until…

_**WHAM!**_

The world righted itself around them and, squinting through their headaches, they looked around at the familiar room of Remus' office.

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><p><strong>I hope you enjoyed.<strong>

**Oreal**


	13. Chapter 13

**And thus commences the final chapter in this story.**

**And I would like to say a Very Happy 18th Birthday to my friend FallenStar22: check out her stuff, she's brilliant!**

**Thank you for following me on this journey, and I'm so very sorry about my crap updates.**

**And so it ends, I hope you enjoy this final chapter. Sorry I'm crap at endings.**

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><p><strong>Chapter 13<strong>

"Did it work? Are we home?" Sirius' voice was the first to break the silence, but it was none of theirs which answered it.

"You are indeed, Mr Black." Harry's head snapped up to see Professor Dumbledore standing in the corner of the room, his eyes twinkling familiarly. "Would you mind terribly if I asked where you had been?"

Harry stood silently as the adults all began speaking at once, trying to explain the incredible adventure they had all had. Dumbledore looked amused at the sudden explosion of noise, and held his hand up, causing silence to fall instantly.

"One of you please." He said calmly, "Remus?"

"We were… it's hard to explain sir, but I think we found ourselves in a parallel world. It was… very different. How long have we been missing, sir?"

Dumbledore's eyebrows rose in surprise, "Just 24 hours, Remus. How long has it been for you?"

"I'm not entirely sure sir, longer than a week."

"Indeed. You shall have to tell me all about it, but for the moment, I believe you should reacquaint yourselves with your friends. Everyone has been very worried."

Dumbledore's eyes found Harry's at this comment and a small frown creased his brow as he appeared to look into his soul, in the way only Dumbledore could. Harry did not say anything, merely smiled faintly at him and looked back at the floor, which was very much out of character for the troublemaker.

With a final smile, Dumbledore swept from the room, leaving them to gather their thoughts.

"I should probably go find Dora and Teddy, they'll be worried sick!" Remus exclaimed, rushing to the fireplace, and this seemed to bring the rest of them back to reality.

"I'll go back to Gryffindor Tower." Harry said quietly, and his parents quickly drew him into a hug.

"If you need anything, let us know." James said seriously, "If you need to talk to anyone-"

"I know Dad." Harry cut him off awkwardly, "Thanks."

"Be safe." Lily pressed a kiss to his cheek, and it showed how much Harry had changed that he did not pull away from her.

"See you." Harry said with a small smile as he left Uncle Moony's office.

The corridors seemed quiet and empty, and a glance out of the window showed Harry the sun was just setting: the common room would be packed. Ducking into a secret passageway, Harry's feet brought him towards Gryffindor tower, but his mind was miles away.

_I wonder what everyone's reaction will be. I wasn't gone that long… but I'm not the same person I was when I left yesterday evening… it seems so long ago._

_Was it only a week? It felt like forever I was…_

Harry could not bear to think of what had happened.

_I don't know what to do about Ron, Dean and Seamus… I don't know if they'll accept the new me. I don't know if the new me can accept them._

_What about Neville? It was my fault he turned out like this. The other Harry would never have let him be put down, and Hermione. She's such a different person there, than she is here. She was so confident, but here she's as timid as a mouse…_

_Was it all my fault? Have I changed these people so much?_

_What if-_

Harry looked up to find himself in front of the Fat Lady's portrait, and looked at it blankly.

_Oh no! The password! _

Harry frowned as he tried to remember the password, but it had not seemed important in the other world and it seemed to have leaked out of his head.

"Dilligrout!" A familiar voice called from behind him and Harry spun around to arrive face-to-face with Hermione Granger, her hair as bushy as ever, her arms laden with books.

"Hermione!" Harry cried in relief, "Thanks! You're a lifesaver!"

Hermione looked at him strangely, and Harry remembered what she must think of him.

"Sorry!" Harry leapt out of her way so she could access the portrait hole, "Do you want any help with that?" he gestured towards the pile of books in her arms and she frowned at him.

"What do you want, Potter?"

Harry was about to answer when the Fat Lady interceded loudly.

"If you're going in, go in! I'm not going to just hang open for you all day!"

Harry and Hermione quickly avoided each other's eyes and darted into the portrait hole. Harry was about to turn to Hermione again when he was met with an explosion of noise.

"Harry!"

"It's Potter!"

"He's back!"

Harry started at the noise, feeling threatened by the large number of faces staring at him. He slid his hand into his pocket to feel the comforting weight of his wand in his hand. Hermione had vanished.

Ron's ginger hair became visible as he pushed his way out of the crowd towards Harry and Harry began to wish he had not come back here so quickly, maybe waited until the crowds had thinned a bit.

"Harry!" Ron, Seamus and Dean burst their way out of the crowd. "Where were you?"

Harry looked around to see a large number of interested faces looking towards him and felt a very sudden, very large desire to escape.

"Let's go up to the dorm, yeah?" Harry said nervously, spying the staircase at the end of the room.

"What? Why?" Dean demanded curiously.

"You don't wanna go up there, mate, Longbottom's up there." Seamus agreed.

"So?" Harry felt confused before he remembered he wasn't supposed to like Neville. "I want to talk to him anyway."

_I am not going to lie about who I am now._

Hiding behind a confused Ron, the four of them pushed their way through the crowd of people asking where Harry had been, had he been skiving, what had he been doing?

Harry felt more and more compressed the longer it took them to get through the crowd, and when they finally reached the staircase, his hands were trembling and his wrists were rubbing against each other again.

Harry burst into the dormitory, breathing fast, trying to escape from the crowd. Ron, Seamus and Dean followed him closely.

"Harry, what's wrong?" Ron's face looked worried as he looked at his friend.

"You look like crap." Dean was frowning as he searched Harry's face for something.

"I'm fine… just… I wanted to get out of there. You guys need to know the truth and I don't know what's real any more. I just… I'm fine."

Harry looked across at Neville's bed, containing a very startled Neville, his eyes wide. Neville looked at them for a minute before sighing and beginning to stand.

"You can stay here, Neville." Harry told him, much to the surprise of Ron, Dean and Seamus. "It's your room as much as it is ours. I swear I won't hurt you."

Neville looked gobsmacked as he sat back down on his bed and watched Harry curiously.

"Mate, what happened to you?" Dean sounded seriously worried as he frowned at him.

"It's a very long story… but what happened, changed me.

"You know I went looking for Uncle Moony last we- last night? Well, something happened."

"Is Professor Lupin okay?" Ron asked worriedly,

"Yeah. Nothing like that… I mean, something happened. We were all – me, Mum, Dad, Uncle Moony and Uncle Padfoot – about to eat dinner when there was an explosion. We were transported to an Alternate Universe."

"Yeah, right mate. If you don't mind me saying, I think you might have had too much to drink!"

"Ask them if you like!" Harry retorted angrily. "I'm telling you the truth and it's up to you if you believe me or not!"

"Sorry mate, carry on." Seamus looked sceptical.

"This Universe… it was dark. As in, evil. There was this evil wizard, Lord Voldy-something, and he had these followers… the Death Munchers, I think they were called. It was nasty. When we got there, there was this massive fight going on in Hogwarts, there were people dying everywhere."

Harry's voice was shaky as he remembered, his face pale.

"Ron, your brother, Fred. He was killed. So was Uncle Moony and Aunt Tonks, Teddy was a baby, orphaned. There was the other me… my doppelganger. He was – he seemed to be the one in charge. His parents were killed by the evil guy when he was a baby, he was brought up by the Dursleys. He killed him. The other me, he killed Lord Voldy-thing."

Harry shook his head to clear it.

"He was so much better than I was. So much braver, so much stronger. He was a good person."

"_You're_ a good person!" Dean was quick to interject, but Harry shook his head.

"He had two best friends, and they were closer than anyone I've seen. Ron and Hermione."

"_Granger_?" Ron looked gobsmacked. "Why would we be friends with _her_?"

"She was a good person, Ron. You were in love with her. She's the one that allowed us to get back home. I'd never seen you so happy." Harry met Ron's gaze and Ron stared back, bewildered. But he seemed to believe him.

"Neville." Harry spoke to the curious boy on the bed. "I'm sorry. I am so, so sorry for what I've done to you. I've repressed you constantly, and stopped you being who you are capable of being."

Neville looked at Harry confused. "I'm nobody, I'm not important!" he said quietly.

"You are, Neville. You – the other you – he was brilliant. He led Dumbledore's army, and was head of the rebellion when the school was taken over. He looked like crap, mate, but… he killed the snake, Voldy-man's snake. With Gryffindor's sword."

Neville looked startled. "I did that?" he said in a small voice.

Harry went over to Neville and knelt on the floor in front of him.

"Yes, you did. And you're capable of that. You tried so hard, and you are, and always have been, a much better person than I ever was."

Harry looked back at his friends, who couldn't seem to comprehend what was happening.

"Neville's our friend now, okay?" Harry told them, "he's better than any of us-"

"Hey!" Seamus interrupted Harry "just because you've gone all high and mighty, doesn't mean you can insult the rest of us! And that still doesn't explain your freakiness on the stairs!"

Harry flinched backwards. "I don't know what you mean." He said warily, "I'm fine."

"Tell us the truth, Harry." Ron was looking at him carefully, like he would break any minute. Harry could not look him in the eye.

"The Death Munchers came to the house." Harry said in a quiet voice, "they thought I was the other Harry. They…" Harry brought his legs to his chest, making himself into a ball, his back to Neville's bed. "They took me. I – I don't know how long for. I… they tortured me."

Harry shuddered as he remembered the feeling of being so weak.

"It was in the woods… they took my clothes. I was cold, so cold, and the pain…"

Harry's breath shuddered. "I forgot who I was, where I was."

Neville's hand on his shoulder startled Harry out of the memory, and he looked up at his friends. "Sorry." He said, forcing his wrists to stop sliding over each other.

"But, Harry, mate." Ron spoke up carefully, "You were only gone a day!"

"I… we were there for ages. Days, more than a week." Harry said, "I don't understand it either, but…"

"I believe you." Neville's voice piped up from above, and Harry saw his worried gaze fixed upon him. "You're too different to be gone a day."

Harry smiled slightly, shaking himself.

It would be okay, he thought. He was safe now, he would be okay. Tomorrow, he would find Hermione and talk to her, but for now… it might take some time to change his friends' views, but he knew he would be able to make them realise, just like he did…

From now on, he would be better.

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><p><strong>I know it's not a very satisfying ending, but it had to end somewhere.<strong>

**I hope you have enjoyed reading this as much as I have writing it.**

**Oreal**


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